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In loving memory of Sister Margaret Noone
January 3, 2025
It is with great sadness that we share the death of our first employee and patron Sister Margaret Noone IBVM AM at age 91.
Margaret died peacefully on Friday 3 January surrounded by members of the Loreto community and loved ones.
A Loreto Sister with more than 20 years’ experience as a teacher and junior school principal, Margaret joined Very Special Kids in its creation in 1985 and quickly set to work advocating the need for holistic paediatric palliative care outside of acute hospital care.
At the time, no service existed for Australian children and young people with life-limiting conditions, and their families, that provided active total care of the child’s body, mind and spirit, while also supporting their parents and siblings.
Over the next 40 years, Margaret was not just the heart and soul of Very Special Kids but a true pioneer of paediatric palliative care in Australia.
She dreamed of opening Australia’s first children’s hospice, a home away from home that offered seriously ill children a medically safe place to call their own and their parents a break from round-the-clock care no one else could offer. Margaret fought to make her dream a reality, opening the first Very Special Kids House in 1996.
She was a member of the first committee for the Palliative Care Association of Australia, and the International Work Group on Death, Dying and Bereavement. In 2000, she was recognised for her work with a Member of the Order of Australia award.
Above all else, everything Margaret did was for the children and families. She led Very Special Kids until her retirement in 2002 and remained very active in her role as patron until the end of her life.
Beloved by our staff, volunteers and the families we care for, we will remember Margaret for her generosity, strength, determination, faith, warmth and wit. Her legacy will forever live on in the work of Very Special Kids.
We thank you for your understanding and compassion during this time. Our thoughts are with Margaret’s family, friends and the countless people whose lives she touched.
In Margaret’s honour, we will continue her legacy in caring for children, young people and their families during their most difficult times. You can help us keep her vision alive by supporting our work here.
