A heartfelt tribute has been paid to Dubbo's cultural warrior.
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Western Plains Cultural Centre curator Kent Buchanan has shed tears in marking the death of Margaret Barrington Samuels (nee Hughes) in a post on its Facebook page.
He has also given credit where credit is due."I can confidently say that without Margaret Samuels, Dubbo would not be the sophisticated city it is today," Mr Buchanan wrote.
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Mrs Samuels, known as "Marg", died from cancer at the age of 95 on March 22 with family by her side.
Eldest son Greg cared for his mother for the last 10 weeks of her life in a Bishop Street home she and late husband and solicitor Albert, called Sammy, moved into after their marriage in 1948.
This week Dubbo businessman and son Roland said his mother died peacefully. "She saw people up until the last week," he said.
Locqacious, meaning talkative, is one of the words used by Greg Samuels to describe the mother of four, grandmother of eight and great-grandmother of one.
Passionate, curious and modest are the others.
Margaret Samuels was raised in Dubbo, never knowing her artist father for whom she bore the name Barrington.
She graduated dux from Dubbo High School and completed teacher training in Armidale before working at Trangie and Bourke.
Mrs Samuel's return to her beloved Dubbo High School was in the form of an English teacher and assistant librarian who loved reading and playing musical instruments.
At the age of 24 she met her almost 40-year-old husband-to-be on Dubbo's golf course.
"He was on the second hole and he saw a woman trying to kill a snake and then when he got a bit closer to her, he realised she was trying to swing the club," Roland said.
The pair would pass on their artistic abilities to the generations which followed them.
At the same time Mrs Samuels took a stand despite backlash.
"You've got no idea how many people she offended by actually mentioning the fact that Dubbo needed some culture," Roland said.
In his post, Mr Buchanan told of Mrs Samuels being part of a small and passionate group which across decades "championed the need for culture to be legitimised through infrastructure and resources".
"Margaret and her ilk promoted and encouraged dance, theatre, fine arts, embroidery, flower arranging, gardening, music, literature and much more besides," he wrote.
Mr Buchanan also revealed Mrs Samuel's thirst for knowledge and propensity to challenge his choices.
"Margaret was a volunteer, guide, advisory board member, and easily our biggest critic," he wrote.
A memorial service is yet to be scheduled.