5 minute read
In Memoriam
In memory of
Marie Wells oam
We pay tribute to Marie Wells – the passionate and generous woman who educated many dental assistants in WA.
When Marie Wells OAM passed away on September 26, aged 93 years, the WA dental community lost a very loved and respected member. Marie ran the Dental Assistants’ Association’s training course, under the auspices of ADAWA. It later became a national organisation (The Dental Assistants’ Association of Australia), which meant dentists were ostensibly in charge, but Marie remained the figurehead in WA. She also served as the Federal President of DAAA for some years. Friend and colleague Kay Wright says Marie was very respected in the industry and set the bar high for her students. “She had a very high standard and was always magnificently groomed and dressed,” Kay recalls. ADAWA received some of the following memories of Marie, from her past students: “Marie trained me back in 1996 in Perth. I remember how strict she was, and the very high standards Marie set. A fabulous teacher. I won’t ever forget her.” “She was my trainer when I was 17, now I’m 54. She even pulled me in for extra training on a Sunday because she said I could do better. I thought she was so hard on me, but it turned out she told me I was one of her favourite students and I ended up passing with credits. She was an amazing lady, very strict in teaching, with a heart of gold.” “Marie Wells was an amazing teacher; her dental assisting course had the best reputation in Perth. I was also 17 when I trained with her and I’m now 51. She had very high standards: no nail polish and cut fingernails, stockings with no ladders, no jewellery unless earring studs, and no scrunchies, only elastics and clips. White shoes had to be polished also – inspections at every class in Midland on Thursday nights. She had very strong ethics. Her students always had to be working whilst studying at night, which was the best way to learn. She was hard but also had a soft side and turned out some amazing dental assistants.”
“Marie held such high standards. She had a wonderful ability to get the best out of everyone.” Marie had a strict but fair teaching style, but she was also known for her great generosity. “When country students would come to Perth, for their block of theory, if they had no place to stay, Marie would have them stay in her home,” Kay says. “A lot of the students used to come around to the house at night as well after hours and Marie used to tutor them from home,” recalls Marie’s nephew, Ian Blewitt. “Marie was always one that loved to have people over,” he adds. “She used to love to host, and if she knew people were coming over, she would get out the best China and knives and forks. There would always be a good spread of food – always more than what anyone could eat.”
In addition to her dedication to training dental assistant students, Marie worked with dentist Dr Eddie Medina at his Dianella practice for many years, where a lifelong friendship was formed. Ian says Eddie and his wife Helen were like family to Marie. “Marie would go and spend time with Eddie’s family, and they would take her out,” he recalls. “If they were doing something they would always invite her along and she loved that. She also has photos of Eddie’s kids around the house.” It is also apparent that along with Eddie, Marie had a positive impact on the patients that came through the Dianella practice, as Kay discovered at Marie’s funeral. “A professionally dressed man in his late 40s or early 50s sat down in front of us at the funeral and I thought he was a dentist, so I asked if he was from the ADA,” Kay says. “He said he was a patient of Eddie Medina’s over 40 years ago. He said he was very frightened of dentists, and he was taken to the Perth Dental Hospital when he was seven years’ old, and it took three people to hold him down. He said the experience made him even more nervous, so his mother took him to Eddie’s clinic when he was 11. He told me: ‘It was Mrs Wells that tamed me down and I was ok after that. I kept going to Eddie until he stopped working and it was thanks to Mrs Wells that I was able to go.’ To think Marie had been out of the profession since the early 2000s and he still remembered her and came to the funeral was wonderful.” The WA branch of the DAAA continued for some 33 years under the guidance of Marie before she retired. The branch did not have the same success after Marie left, and the branch underwent voluntary liquidation in 2002. Marie’s dedication was recognised when she was awarded an OAM in 2007 for her contribution to the Dental Profession in WA. It was wonderful that Marie’s husband Fred, who was a lifelong support for Marie, was able to be there to see Marie receive this honour, as he passed away later that year. “She was very proud of that achievement,” Ian recalls. “The whole family was very proud of her as well. She was an amazing person who dedicated so much of her time, not only to family and friends, but also to her work.” A hidden treasure found in Marie’s home by Ian and Kay after Marie’s passing was a typed, seven-page history of The Dental Assistants’ Association of Australia that Marie had compiled while she was the DAAA Federal President. A copy is now in the archives at ADAWA. Marie was fiercely independent, continuing to live by herself until her passing. She also continued to dedicate her time to helping others, long into her retirement. “Marie went and did a course with the Red Cross on how to look after hands and nails well into her 80s,” Kay recalls. “When she got the certificate, she then went to a residential aged care home in Bayswater and did all the old peoples’ hands and nails. She said, ‘old people’ but they were probably younger than she was,” Kay laughs. “She would also take some of them shopping and to doctor’s appointments. She was volunteering even in her 80s.” Marie passed away peacefully aged 93. Our sympathies to the family, friends and loved ones of this remarkable woman.
