Hurstbridge lost a local legend on the 25th of July, 2024, during the 100th year of Hurstbridge officially being a township. Pam Lawson died peacefully in her sleep in her semi-bushland home after more than 50 years of massive contributions to our community.

It’s intriguing how Hurstbridge attracts its residents, beyond the obvious greenery. Maybe because our common character trait is living real and being pretentious free for most of our tiny population. While the green is beautiful, the freedom to simply be is astonishing. B.S. free.

That trait certainly applies to the life story of Pam Lawson, born in 1947, who grew up in Kew, mostly outdoors. Her love of horses was lifelong, an artistic soul, with a ready laugh, infamous for not suffering fools, a stalwart of the Hurstbridge region, including the Pony Club, a collector and protector of our history and greenery, a pants wearer, and most importantly a wife to Jack and mother to Albe and Carolyn. 

She is gone but never to be forgotten thanks to her work creating and curating a treasure trove and lasting legacy of our social history culminating in the superb book “Kooka on the Wattle: A History of Hurstbridge” with the Hurstbridge Local History Group.