ELIZABETH McCOMBS.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXV, Issue 148, 8 June 1935, Page 4

ELIZABETH McCOMBS.

The announcement of the death of Mrs. Elizabeth McCombs, M.P., which reached us yesterday, will have brought to the people of the Dominion a sorrow that is not limited by a.sense of public loss. It is not only as our first woman member of Parliament, who had as such filled her place with a grace and* ability that brought new adornment to it, that her loss to the community will be universally mourned. It was not only in this capacity that she had earned a widespread respect and regard that bordered closely on personal affection. For years before taking her late husband’s place in the House, she had made herself known as an earnest and ener getic worker in the cause of social and moral uplift among the people of her own city. To this she had, indeed, almost exclusively devoted her life, laying all personal interests aside. It was with this object in view, too, that displaying both self sacrifice and courage, she sought a seat in Parliament. There she faithfully fulfilled her duties, despite in later days a failing health that was in no small measure attributable to the strain she placed upon herself in doing so. There, too, the influence of her presence was all for the good, and there can be nothing but the keenest regret that her political career has thus been cut short. But it will be as the selfless, self - sacrificing woman, devoted to the cause of suffering humanity, the noblest creation of God, that Elizabeth McCombs will live in the memories of those who knew her best.