Former St George resident Mary Holt has been awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for her service to conservation and the environment.
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Mrs Holt lived in Lugarno for many years with her husband John, a well-known veterinarian in the St George area.
"As a vet, of course he was always involved with animals and nature. And I've just always loved animals," she said.
Mrs Holt now lives in Mount Wilson in the Blue Mountains. Her involvement with the Australian Conservation Foundation dates back to 1985, when she first became a benefactor. She was also a member of the foundation from that year until 2017.
Other groups to benefit from her generosity include the Australian Wildlife Conservancy and the Australian Museum Foundation.
One she is particularly proud of is the Natural History Society of South Australia, better known as Wombats SA, whose volunteers help to preserve habitat for the hairy-nosed wombat.
Mrs Holt is patron of the society as well as a benefactor and admits that the wombats are "very cute".
Mrs Holt said she was "a bit overwhelmed" when she heard of her OAM.
"Lots of people do great things. Plenty of people have done more than I have. I just think it's sad for the ones who aren't recognised."
Her love of animals spread abroad after her husband read about a group in Jaipur, India, who rescue animals from the street and desex them to reduce the plague of strays. So the Kalimpong Animal Shelter and Darjeeling Animal Shelter was added to their list of causes.
Dr John Holt had a very successful career, establishing five animal hospitals in Sydney in the 1980s, so the couple were happy to use their fortunate circumstances to help others, Mrs Holt said.
In 2014, a year after her husband's death, Mrs Holt established the Dr John Holt scholarship for animal welfare at the School of Veterinary Medicine at Sydney University in his honour.
As a resident of Mt Wilson, she has also helped the local Rural Fire Service and is a member of the Mt Wilson Progress Association.
And she and her late husband are life patrons of the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, which they have supported since 1995.
