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BETTY Martin "created communities wherever she went" and had only just played in her first lawn bowls grand final when she lost her life in a road accident at the weekend.
Betty, 84, was driving home to Flora Hill after visiting her son in the Grampians on Sunday afternoon when her car veered off the road and hit a tree in Archdale near Maryborough.
She has been remembered as a bright spark - a character - who just "bolted across Australia making friends with everyone she met".
Betty spent her days playing bowls, gardening, and travelling across the country in her campervan.
She was a member of the Strathfieldsaye Probus Club and the Strathfieldsaye Bowls Club.
She had even played in her first Bendigo Mid-Week Pennant Bowls grand final just a week before the accident - but had missed out on winning the championship.
Dear friend Anne Butler said Betty, who had lived in the Bendigo region for more than 40 years, was constantly busy and spread light everywhere she went.
"She was just a lovely person, a bright spark and very active. Just totally full of beans," Ms Butler said.
"I remember walking up One Tree Hill with her with bricks in our bags as part of training and that's not all that long ago.
"She loved the bush and never let her age get in the way.
"It was only last August that she drove up to Cairns herself and travelled around the islands up there."
Betty created a garden outside the bowls club in earlier years, with president Adrian Morris saying she was a "dedicated member" who was always willing to help.
"There's a sober mood at the moment - it's definitely hit the club hard," he said.
Fellow Strathfieldsaye Bowls Club member Loretta Harris remembered all the fun had while travelling across Australia together.
"She liked to go places that were way way out and we spent a lot of time on trips laughing," she said.
"It's not that long ago that we saw her at the bowls grand final and we were going to see her again on Thursday.
"No-one can really believe what's happened and it's very very sad.
"She'll be greatly missed."
Betty is survived by her three sons. Her husband and a son had passed before her.