Ken Muir

It is with sadness that the RTA has been notifier that Ken Muir has passed away this week at the age of 91.

.

Ken and Marie (passed away 2018) were a dynamic duo.
In 2014, Federation General Secretary Jenny Diamond pinned association life membership badges on Marie and Ken Muir, saying these were occasions when peers acknowledged the exceptional work of members — their drive and passion to make things happen.
The couple exemplified the value of public education, she said; they had influenced the lives of so many students over the years.
Marie and Ken, moved to Western Australia soon after to be closer to their family.

Ken had always hunted down injustices through his support of AFTINet. Marie had strongly supported women’s issues, particularly the Jessie Street National Women’s Library. They had both worked tirelessly for retired, aged and Indigenous people and would no doubt continue in public education campaigns.

In 1950, Marie was appointed to her first school and two years later transferred to Scone District Rural School, where her parents lived.There she met Ken, an industrial arts teacher at the local secondary school. Marie always said her marriage to Ken had been arranged by the NSW Department of Education. They were married on May 2, 1953.
Marie and Ken moved back to Sydney in 1955 and in November William Roderic (known as Rod) was born.
Later, Ken worked as a welfare officer for Federation.

The duo, traveled widely, usually for social justice issues. In 1987 they attended the Close Pine Gap demonstration in the Northern Territory and in 1991 went to El Salvador as election observers. There, they witnessed oppression and poverty and US aid being used by the Salvadoran army to control the drug trade.