Our loved and gracious Elizabeth Mackie OP, former Assistant Editor of Tui Motu magazine, died on Saturday 18 February from cancer.

Elizabeth relocated from Christchurch to Dunedin in 2010 after the Christchurch earthquakes and became the Assistant Editor of Tui Motu with Kevin Toomey OP, the newly appointed Editor. Elizabeth was no stranger to the magazine. She helped found it in 1997 and served on the Board for many years, retiring as a director only in 2016. She continued to promote the magazine each month at Holy Name Church, Dunedin — effectively and with humour, we heard.

In my first month of editing Tui Motu magazine Elizabeth and Susie set off for the Dominican Sisters' Chapter where Elizabeth was elected their new Congregational Leader. Good news for the Dominicans but less so for us!

Her new role meant that Elizabeth needed to scale back her involvement in the magazine but as always she was generous in sharing her wisdom and editorial and administrative skills. She inducted Paul Armstrong as our administrator and she focused on editing.

In her early years after entering the Dominicans, Elizabeth became a teacher and studied Latin at Oxford University and taught at Otago University. She taught also at Dominican secondary schools in the South Island and in Auckland. Before returning to Dunedin and to her role in Tui Motu, Elizabeth had lived in Christchurch where she worked with the Christian World Service in promoting development programmes in poor regions of the world.

Over the last few years since leaving her ministry in Tui Motu magazine, Elizabeth has been our "treat" visitor. She'd call in after morning Eucharist for a catch up, to give us encouragement and a good laugh. Some of these visits extended to morning tea time and beyond. Tui Motu was always close to her heart. She remained a Trustee of the Tui Motu Foundation until her death.

Elizabeth joined us for the last time in December last year for our annual volunteer thanksgiving dinner at our Tui Motu office. At this time she had come through surgery for cancer and we thought that we would have her among us for much longer. But that was not the case and on Saturday Elizabeth made her last journey into death and the great mystery of Love beyond.

We can only give thanks for the time we had with Elizabeth — our exceptional, generous, affirming, faithfilled, interested and interesting, funny woman. We are saddened by her death but know that love continues forever. Rest in love dear Elizabeth.