Mary Thompson Named Citizen of the Year

Local historian and community volunteer, Mary is recognised for her dedication to our town over many years and as an inspirational role model in our community.

Mary is a founding volunteer at the Mareeba Heritage Centre and has continued to dedicate her time to the Centre, offering assistance to grow and develop the attraction for the community and visitors.

Mary was an assistant teacher at St Thomas’s Primary School where she developed an avid interest in history and formed a partnership with teacher Lorraine Townsend. Each new school year, Mary would take on the role of John Atherton and delight in introducing the new students to how Mareeba was founded.

Together Mary and Lorraine produced what became almost two decades of historic St Thomas calendars and two books – A pictorial history of Mareeba in 1981 and Street Names of Mareeba in 1994.

Mary then transferred her love and knowledge of history towards the new Mareeba Museum and Heritage Centre, where she continues to dedicate her time to the visitor attraction. Mary was instrumental in acquiring artefacts for the display. Today she is better known for her direction in conveying her knowledge to tourists when they visit the museum and heritage centre.

Her pioneer cemetary and town walking tours are also very informative and have been popular with locals.