Karen Lowry has received a special citation from NSW Marine Rescue commissioner Alex Barrell after stepping down as the Sussex Inlet unit commander.
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Mr Barrell said the commissioner's citation was given for service "above and beyond normal service" - and Ms Lowry was the first person in the unit's history to ever receive one.
The citation was "not an award that's given out lightly, and I think it's well deserved on this occasion", he said.
Mr Barrell made particular note of the way Ms Lowry grew the unit's membership from 12 to about 70 after taking over as unit commander in June 2020.
The growth was "just outstanding", Mr Barrell said.
"Karen has just taken that unit from strength to strength - not only from a membership perspective, but also in a flow-on effect into capability and camaraderie, and making that unit a place where people want to give their time and give back to the local community," he said.
"What I've noticed with Karen and the effort and commitment that she's put in, she does drive a very strong team approach, and when you do that it means that you build succession in the place, and I'm confident that now, with the foundation that Karen has laid, that unit will continue to go from strength to strength."
Ms Lowry joined Sussex Inlet Marine Rescue in March 2018, shortly after moving to the seaside area from Sydney - although she had been a regular visitor since the age of six.
"When I semi-retired I was never going to sit on my butt and do nothing, so I got out there and had a look around," Ms Lowry said.
She and husband Shane found Marine Rescue, with Ms Lowry thrown into an administration role.
From there she became a rated radio operator and WHS officer, before being offered the role of unit commander in June 2020 when the membership had dwindled to just 12.
"I thought our doors were going to close, we were quite light on with crew, radio operators - I think we had six at the time, and things weren't good," Ms Lowry said.
"We can't operate a unit like Sussex Inlet with 12 members."
The focus on rebuilding membership started with advertising locally, before an information night just as the COVID-19 lockdown hit.
"We had a lot of members sign up from out of the area, and guess what - they couldn't go home," Ms Lowry said.
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There was a lot of training via Zoom, before more training on water with restricted crew numbers, allowing people to get their qualifications during the lockdown.
Ms Lowry described the volunteers as "A great group of people, a very diverse group of people."
And while she has stepped back from the unit commander role due to personal reasons, Ms Lowry has taken on the role as membership officer.
She said she would target people to help with the unit's fundraising.
"There's many out there in the retirement villages that don't have a lot to do, and this will give them an interest," she said.
"There's many areas in Marine Rescue where you can contribute."
Ms Lowry is also a co-founder and organiser of the Marine Rescue NSW Women's Forum, and in 2022 was named Marine Rescue NSW Officer of the Year at the Rotary NSW Emergency Services Community Awards.
Glenn Wright has ben promoted to Sussex Inlet's unit commander, with Tony Pollard as deputy unit commander.
