An Inspirational Life.
Lorraine Margaret Saltmarsh.
Lorraine (86) receiving her Honorary Lifetime Membership (2025).A Life Forged in the Australian Bush
Lorraine Margaret Saltmarsh (née Murphy) was born in 1938 and her story begins in the remote gold mining settlement of Gaffney’s Creek - a rugged pocket of Victoria’s high country where resilience was simply a way of life. Alongside her five siblings, she grew up in a community without electricity or running water, where ingenuity, humour, and hard work shaped each day.
Her father, a man of warmth and inventiveness, was a defining influence. Family legend tells how he made their cabin the first in the settlement with running water by diverting a nearby stream using dynamite borrowed from the local mine. It’s a story that has been retold for generations - one that captured a spirit Lorraine would carry throughout her life: practical, creative problem-solving in the face of whatever came next.
Even as a child, Lorraine’s leadership was evident. At just twelve years old, with so few children in the settlement, she volunteered to teach the youngest students at the local school. At fourteen, she left Gaffney’s Creek for Melbourne, beginning her working life at Healings, where she handled invoicing and administration for the company’s growing international logistics operations. There, she witnessed first-hand the arrival of computers and electronic systems into Australian workplaces (a new era of record-keeping, accounting, and trade) and embraced it with curiosity rather than hesitation.
Ever sociable and community-minded, she threw herself into workplace life, organising social clubs at the Queen Victoria Market and pursuing new interests, including basketball (representing Victoria at the National Championships) and later competitive cycling through the 1970s.
Building a Life and a Legacy
While in Melbourne, Lorraine met Maxwell Donald Saltmarsh at Leggott’s Dance Hall. Their partnership flourished, leading to marriage and a move to Cobram–Barooga in the Riverina to care for Max’s elderly grandparents.
There, Lorraine took on the role of Probation Officer, focusing on youth and family support - an early reflection of her deep compassion and social conscience. She later became a foster carer, opening her home to children in need of safety, care, and stability.
Lorraine and Max soon began their own family, welcoming Brian and Diane. Together, they became pillars of the local community. Lorraine immersed herself in civic life through Girl Guides, Cub Scouts, Neighbourhood Watch, and the Cobram High School P&C, where she supported fundraising efforts toward a new assembly hall. She also spent over a decade as a collector for the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal; one of many quiet commitments that added up to a lifetime of service.
Max, a respected builder, and Lorraine, ever active in community causes, earned the trust and admiration of all who knew them.
Her involvement extended into sport and local life, where she became a Life Member of the Cobram Cycling Club, reflecting both her love of cycling and her contribution to the community around it.
An Accidental Entrepreneur
A much-loved family story from 1964 captures Lorraine’s fearless nature. With a newborn in one arm and a toddler on her hip, she mentioned to Max that she “rather liked” helping out at the local fish-and-chip shop. A week later, Max surprised her by purchasing the business outright - suddenly making her the full-time proprietor.
What followed was not hesitation, but action. Lorraine built the business into a success while raising her family, laying the groundwork for what would become a lifetime of entrepreneurial and creative ventures.
In the 1980s, she undertook formal studies in visual art and design, refining her natural artistic ability and deepening her understanding of art as both expression and connection. Later, as a mature-age student, she returned to university to study creative writing and literature; driven by a lifelong belief that learning never really ends.
Like many hardworking Australian families of the time, the Saltmarshes also faced adversity. When economic hardship forced the closure of Max’s construction company, Lorraine’s resilience became the family’s anchor. Through determination and optimism, she helped rebuild both business and home - an enduring testament to her strength of character.
Championing the Arts in Regional Australia
Lorraine went on to open and operate a music store in Cobram, as well as art galleries in both Cobram and Tocumwal, creating spaces where art, music, and conversation could flourish in regional communities.
These weren’t just businesses - they were gathering places. Lorraine curated exhibitions, organised logistics, and brought artists together, including facilitating touring exhibitions for Australian artists such as Noel Westgate and Jan Barnett. Through this work, she supported artists’ careers while ensuring that regional communities had access to meaningful cultural experiences.
She also volunteered with the Cobram Railway Art Gallery and served as the long-standing coordinator of the Tocumwal Annual Art Exhibition. For many years, she led the Art Pavilion Exhibition for the Cobram Agricultural Society Show, helping shape one of the region’s most anticipated cultural events. Her contribution was formally recognised through Life Membership of the Cobram Agricultural Society.
Alongside this, Lorraine wrote extensively - publishing poems, short stories, artist biographies, and contributing a long-running column to the Central Murray Informer, where she shared stories of local life, creativity, and community.
Her belief in creativity, literacy, and access to opportunity would later form the foundation of The Lorraine Foundation’s mission - ensuring that children, regardless of circumstance, are given the tools to imagine, create, and grow.
Service Through Practical Support
Lorraine’s generosity was never limited to the arts.
Through her Two States Driving School, she provided countless hours of free driving lessons to those who needed them most - young people, survivors of domestic violence, refugees, and others rebuilding independence. For many, these lessons were more than practical - they were a pathway to confidence, employment, and connection.
This same spirit carried into her family life. Lorraine taught each of her grandsons to drive, attended their sporting events, and nurtured their curiosity and creativity through everyday moments - whether through bushwalks, music, storytelling, or famously inventive spelling games. These small acts reflect the same philosophy that now underpins The Lorraine Foundation’s programs: that learning, confidence, and imagination are built through connection, encouragement, and care.
In later years, her service continued through volunteering, including Meals on Wheels and aged care support at multiple aged care facilities across the Goulburn Valley. Whether delivering meals or simply spending time with residents, Lorraine brought the same warmth and attentiveness that had defined her earlier work.
She also contributed to the Tocumwal Foreshore Committee and remained an active member of Cobram Barooga Neighbourhood Watch, continuing to support community safety and connection.
Recognition and Enduring Influence
Lorraine’s contribution has been formally recognised through Moira Shire’s Citizen of the Year Award and a community service acknowledgement from Berrigan Shire. But her impact is perhaps most clearly seen in the people around her.
Her children, Brian and Diane, and her grandchildren have carried forward her values - contributing across community organisations, charities, local businesses, and public service. Her influence is not something she spoke about; it is something she lived, and others absorbed
A Living Legacy
In retirement, Lorraine has cherished life with her beloved husband Max, with whom she shared 53 years of marriage. Even since his passing in 2013, she has remained a vibrant presence in community life - continuing to volunteer, create, and connect.
In 2025, The Lorraine Foundation was established in her honour - a reflection of her lifelong belief in creativity, education, and care for others. She was awarded Honorary Lifetime Membership, recognising not just what she has done, but what she continues to inspire.
Today, Lorraine resides in Ballarat, Victoria, where she remains an active and curious member of her community and The Lorraine Foundation. Surrounded by the layered history of another Australian gold-mining town, she finds joy in painting from her home studio, sharing her work with family and friends, and exploring the region’s cultural life. Her days are marked by conversation, creativity, and quiet acts of kindness - a continuation of the spirit that has guided her throughout her life.