Maleny mourns the loss of dynamo Gail Denver

Gail loved Maleny and always found time to get involved in good causes.

by Janine Hill

Maleny might be well known for its sense of community but Gail Denver was one of the people who put that spirit into the town.

Sport, the arts, agriculture, history, fundraising – Gail was involved in more community organisations and activities than most.

The community dynamo with the seemingly boundless energy will be dearly missed by many after passing away on 28 September.

Gail has been a part of the Maleny for nearly 50 years. She and her siblings, Simon and Jane, moved there with their mother, Jo, in the mid-1970s.

The family had moved to Australia from England only six months earlier and were holidaying at Currimundi when Jo discovered Maleny and bought a house there on 8ha.

“We were the only non-farming people in Maleny but we were close enough to have everything, an hour to Brisbane, an hour to the beach,” said Simon.

After finishing school, Gail went on to study fine arts in Brisbane but her studies were interrupted when she was diagnosed with Hodgkins disease.

“They didn’t think she would survive but she did,” Simon said.

While Simon and Jane both enjoyed acting and performance, Gail was not one for the stage and instead ran the family business, Maverick Musicals and Plays, publishing musical and play scripts.

But act she could, the cricket fan once talking her way into the members’ pavilion at the ‘Gabba during an Ashes test on the pretence of being England bowler Graham Dilley’s wife.

“We sat there all day drinking gin and tonics,” said Simon, who posed as a reporter from the Yorkshire Post in the same escapade.

While Simon’s career involved a lot of travel in Australia and south-east Queensland, and Jane travelled over- seas, Gail made her home in Maleny with her partner, Jim Cossins, and their son, Tom, born 30 years ago.

Gail was president of the Friends of Pattemore House, president of the Maleny Players for nearly a decade, was a committee member of the Maleny and District Sport and Rec Club, was heavily involved with the Fairview Cow Bails restoration project, the Maleny Selectors Green development committee, and the Maleny Australia Day Expo, and was a beef cattle steward at the Maleny Show for more than 30 years.

She was also instrumental in organising the Mighty Maleny Maulers, a rag-tag local cricket team which took on local MP Andrew Powell’s 11 once a year in a charity match.

Simon said his sister loved Maleny and always found time to get involved in things.