Millicent is mourning the death of dedicated community worker Dawn Atkinson after a long period of ill-health.


She passed away in the presence of her family on August 26 at the age of 83.


Her funeral will be held tomorrow at 2pm at the Millicent Uniting Church.


For decades, she had a high public profile through such roles as Millicent Lifeline charity shop manager and Millicent Scouts group leader.


Descended from pioneering Millicent families, Mrs Atkinson was wife to Brian and mother of their four sons.


Her great grandfather Roland Campbell had founded the Millicent Times newspaper in 1891.


Mrs Atkinson was just an infant when he died in 1942 but was present at the diamond wedding celebrations of her great grandparents at Naracoorte in that year.


Her great grandmother Bethea Campbell hand-stitched a dress for her as a toddler and it remained in her possession to this day.


Among her community accolades was the prestigious Silver Emu badge awarded by Scouts in 2013.


Her association with Scouts in Millicent dated back to the 1960s when her parents ran the canteen at the then-Millicent Saleyards.


They voluntarily ran the canteen as a fundraiser for the building of the Scout Hall in Stark Avenue.


After a break of a few years when she married and raised her family, Mrs Atkinson returned to an involvement with Scouting.


At first, she was on the parent committee and later a badge-work instructor.


By the end of the 1970s, she was well on the way to a range of leadership roles.


In the latter years, Mrs Atkinson and her husband baked goods which they sold at local markets.


She had planned to host a Campbell family reunion in Millicent last year but poor health intervened.