Vale Maggie Iaquinto @VK3CFI

When a close friend passes away it is hard to know what to say or do. Maggie passed away on this day in 2014, and I guess that it has taken me this long to be able to write about her without bursting into tears. It has been a tough year without her friendship.

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I met Maggie through my association with the Victorian Information Technology Teachers Association.

Maggie was a sharp shooter. She didn't suffer fools and she loved teaching students. Her love for the job extended to helping teachers and so our two world collided. We worked on the Victorian Information Technology Teachers Association together and she was a great friend to be able to "run an idea past".

She was more than a Colac housewife, she was amazing.

As Information Technology permeated through secondary schools, Information Technology teachers who knew how to actually program became scarce. She wasn't afraid of teaching her students the hard stuff and never dumbed anything down for them.

Maggie is probably the first person that I know of, who has passed away leaving a trail of digital breadcrumbs. Twitter, Facebook, Livejournal; they all tell the tale of a remarkable woman and I am truly blessed to have named her as a friend. I miss her counsel and her amazing optimism and energy. Right up until the very end she was working on the VCAA Computing and Infomatics Study Design.

A friend wrote a blog post in 2009 called A Tale of Three Margaret's which summarised Maggie's accomplishments in IT Education.  But it wasn't until she passed away that I realised how much more there was to her life and I got to meet her two gorgeous son's. Ben and Josh, your mother is looking down upon you and so proud of what you have achieved.

Maggie you are missed.