This week, I'm dipping back into our Honouring Australian Church Women (HACW) files to present another of our past ACW members who made a valuable contribution to our organisation. Her work on the Winifred Kiek Scholarship (WKS) finances is still valued.
Dorothy Katherine Wright joined the Women’s Inter-Church Council (WICC) of South Australia in 1972/73 as the delegate from the Brighton Women’s Inter-Church Council. She continued to serve when the WICC of South Australia became the South Australian Unit of Australian Church Women.
A girl from the hills, Dorothy was born in Mt Barker – the largest town in the Adelaide hills – in 1937, and she attended the local primary and high schools. At her local Methodist Church, she was a Sunday School teacher and young people’s leader. Her involvement in the local community was also much appreciated.
When Dorothy married Arthur Wright it was a sea change, as they lived only a short distance from the ocean in the Adelaide suburb of Seaview Downs. They attended the Seacombe Uniting Church and were very involved in this community of faith.
Dorothy’s three sons were very important to her, and she faithfully supported their many school activities, even working in the school canteen. Service was at the heart of everything that Dorothy did, and in her local community she also served with Meals on Wheels for more than 20 years.
Arthur too had a servant heart, and Dorothy greatly supported him in his work with OARS (formerly the Prisoners Aid Association) and CCA (Courts Administration Authority).
From 1979–84, Dorothy held the position of Treasurer of the South Australian ACW Unit. This was during the period when the ACW Musical At Home programme transitioned to the Community Concern Luncheons, which greatly increased the workload of those involved.
In 1983, Dorothy also became the Treasurer of the South Australian World Day of Prayer Committee, and from 1984–85 she also served on the ACW Interim Committee, which was set up to plan the hoped for 1986 ACWC (Asian Church Women’s Conference) Assembly in Adelaide.
1985–87, Dorothy was appointed Treasurer of the National Executive of ACW during its two-year term in South Australia. During that time, she was responsible for separating all the Winifred Kiek Scholarship funds from the other ACW monies, to enable them to be invested separately.
1987–93, she served as a Winifred Kiek Scholarship Trustee, holding the position of Treasurer. Treasurer was obviously her gift and her meticulous attention to detail was evident in all the financial documents that she prepared. Dorothy gained a wealth of knowledge in this position, which proved to be of great benefit to the WKS Trust.
It would be impossible to estimate the many hours Dorothy spent working ‘on the books’ as well as her other ACW activities. She travelled widely across the Adelaide suburbs and regional areas to assist in promoting the ACW during her time on the Unit Executive, and her support to the various ACW National Treasurers, during her time as WKS Trustee, was highly valued.
Dorothy was made a National Life Member of ACW in 1993, and she continued to faithfully support the ACW. I was privileged to meet Dorothy at a couple of ACW National Conferences and found her to be a delightful lady. Sadly, Dorothy passed away on 10 August 2012, aged just 75.
Request:
If you have any photos of Dorothy Wright and would be happy for ACW to have a copy for our national archives, I would love to hear from you. My email address is donna.bryan@salvationarmy.org.au
