A long term voluntary supporter of Tauranga's rowing community who many knew as the ‘Oddfellow lady' has died at the age of 72.

Marion Edwards was known as the ‘mother' of Otumoetai College's rowing squad from the mid-1990s to mid-2000s.

Otumoetai College named a single scull after volunteer Marion Edwards who died suddenly.

She died suddenly last Thursday and was farewelled by family and friends at a funeral service on Wednesday.

Otumoetai College teacher Anna Shaw says Marion, while stepping away from the watersport in recent years, was a club stalwart and did a lot during the years for the rowing community.

'She was always the one the kids would go to in the tent for first aid; she was very supportive.”

Anna says two of her five children – Harvey and Phillip – became rowers in OC's squad.

'All the new parents, she would give them the lowdown on how to get uniforms and getting the tents to the regattas and things.

'We named a boat after her, as she did so much for Otumoetai College Rowing, and also we have a single scull named after her daughter Stephanie, who died at age 21.”

When Anna came along in 1993, Marion began stepping back from OC's squad but was still involved in the Western Bay of Plenty Secondary Schools Rowing Association and the New Zealand Secondary Schools Rowing Association.

Anna says Marion also helped organise clothing for cup regattas.

'The kids used to like getting sign-written shirts to go to the Maadi Cup regatta, NZ's national championships for school rowing, and in 2007 Marion organised it for them.”

Anna says Marion was a very warm and caring person – but was also known for her treats at regattas.

'When we got to the regattas she always had a big bag of peppermints, Oddfellows, and a bottle of brandy – she told us it was for bee stings but I think the coaches used to get a nice little tot in their coffee, because often very cold by the lake in the early mornings.”

'So she was a very motherly person and would check on everyone.”

Tauranga Rowing Club president Craig Bocock says Marion was 'a mother to everybody at the club”.

She was also an avid fundraiser for Otumoetai's young rowers, being part of raising many funds for the team, says Craig.

'Otumoetai College used to do a phone books covers fundraiser; they're the plastic covers you used to put over your phone books and she ran and organised that.

'She used to have a day round at her place where the kids would come round and spend three-four hours on her lounge floor doing phone covers and her garage was always full of them.”

Craig says Marion spent the majority of her time on Tauranga Rowing Club's committee as the Otumoetai College representative, was secretary of the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Secondary Schools Rowing Association for six years and was regatta secretary at school regattas at Karapiro for about three-four years.

From these positions, Marion was well-known in rowing communities around the Waikato and Bay of Plenty.

'She was known as The Oddfellow Lady,” says Craig.

'As part of her job as the regatta secretary, she used to be at the bottom of the tower, being the face and contact person for any complaints or enquiries.”

'She was the face of the regatta, so you'd get an angry coach come in and she'd just pull out an Oddfellow and say: ‘While you wait have one of these and we'll get to you soon and sort it all out' and that pacified many an angry coach.

'The kids would come in and she'd hand them Oddfellows – and she done it off her own bat, she bought it all herself and had an endless supply of Oddfellows, as they were her lolly of choice,” says Craig.

'She had a habit of being able to calm a situation down quite quickly – it was amazing what a little Oddfellow lolly could do.”

Marion is survived by her husband Roy, four of her children and six grandchildren.