Died: July 17, 2013

Funeral: St Luke’s Anglican Church, Wallsend, July 23, 2013 

HILDA Armstrong was the founder of a support group for families of missing and murdered children, a talented artist and promoter of the arts and a staunch supporter of fair wages, working conditions and her community.

She provided the go-between for the media and the family of murdered 14-year-old Leigh Leigh during the high profile investigation and trial, and formed Yesterday's Children to pressure the NSW Police Force to direct resources towards investigating the disappearance of dozens of Hunter children.

For her contributions to society, she was recognised with the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2012.

Hilda Margaret Armstrong was born on September 15, 1936, a particularly turbulent year. During those 12 months, German troops occupied the Rhineland, Italy completed its conquest of Ethiopia and the Spanish Civil War broke out.

In the lakeside suburb of Toronto - where Hilda lived with her father, William Armstrong, mother, Beryl Butler Armstrong and brother Daniel - these events were being overshadowed by the daily battle for survival during the Great Depression.

The commitment William had to progressing the rights of workers was something Hilda would recount with pride and in turn, a pledge to fight for fair wages, working conditions and her community became a large part of her life.

Hilda attended Toronto Public School and then Wickham Girls' High School. She worked a number of jobs, which included some time at the Hunter District Water Board, where she was also a union representative.

In the 1970s and 1980s she established and ran the Armstrong Galleries at Morpeth.

In the 1990s, she started volunteering at the University of Newcastle legal centre where she assisted with public interest cases and trained law students in advocacy courses.

She would immerse herself in cases, including the murder of Leigh Leigh, who was killed on Stockton Beach in 1989.

Hilda comforted and advised the victim's mother, attended court hearings and meetings with the police minister and dealt with media inquiries.

Her humanity led her to devote many years to the missing children of the Hunter.

She was appalled by incidents of injustice and was concerned for people who had no voice or were powerless or invisible to the system. Hilda was known for being extremely generous with her time and her efforts helped many people through pain and suffering.

She formed a group called Yesterday's Children, which campaigned to have the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of missing children properly investigated by NSW police.

In response, the NSW Police Minister established Strike Force Fenwick, comprising a number of detectives who worked for months gathering evidence on the disappearance of a number of children in the Hunter.

She is survived by her daughter Deanna and son-in-law Walter Milajew, her brother the Reverend Daniel Armstrong and sister-in-law Sue Armstrong, her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.