MOUNT Isa lost a true icon and pioneering businesswoman when Margaret Beard passed away this week.
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Opening fashion store Playtime in 1950, Mrs Beard was responsible for bringing modern children's and women's wear to Mount Isa.
As business grew, the store expanded into a mini department store, adding men's fashion, baby wear, uniforms, footwear, maternity wear and undergarments.
During this time Mrs Beard raised five sons, all of whom were involved with the family business at one time or another.
Mrs Beard first came to Mount Isa after the Second World War, as a student nurse at age 18.
She met George Beard who was from one of Mount Isa's pioneering families and they were married in 1948, two years before her foray into the business world.
Son Michael Beard said changes in retail eventually saw the demise of the country department store concept, but the store expanded to Townsville, where it has 12 retail stores managed by another son, Philip.
Michael Beard said he was proud of his mother's standing in the community and her dedication to her life's work.
"She was totally dedicated to her business and was still putting in long days until she was eventually persuaded to retire to age 70," he said.
"She loved Mount Isa and the people she served in the shop."
Mount Isa Mayor Tony McGrady said Mrs Beard was a true legend of her time and helped to set a precedence for business in Mount Isa.
"She was one of the city's top business people for her time and at a time when it was almost unheard of for a woman to be a backbone of a business, but she was," he said.
"She was tough and she was a true woman of the west. She raised standards for fashion and she was a dynamic woman."
Mount Isa resident Julie Lowe began working at Playtime 38 years ago when she was 15 and is a valued employee to this day.
Mrs Lowe said she has many fond memories from her time working with Mrs Beard and said the firm but kind woman was an inspiration for women at the time and still set a benchmark to this very day.
"She started that business from nothing, and for a business to survive in those times, survive the strike, and still keep going in the times now, well that is a testament," she said.
Mrs Lowe said working at Playtime helped to shape her career and work ethic, with Mrs Beard being a boss with high expectations.
"She was a woman to reckon with, she had expectations and if she gave you a job she expected things to be done as she asked, and she set and achieved such a high standard," she said.
" If you worked at Playtime you could get a job anywhere,"
Mrs Beard opened the business when Gregory was seven months old and she was pregnant with Michael, a tough task for any parent, but Mrs Lowe said it was because of the children that Mrs Beard was so determined to succeed.
"Playtime was her life and it was her baby, and she made it work so she could give her children an opportunity," she said.
"To me, she has taught me lots of things - you cant wait for things to happen, you have to make things happen," she said.
Son Philip Beard said while attempting to write a eulogy for his mother this week he was reminded of what an amazing woman she was.
"There was something about her that people were quite struck by," he said.
"I was always trying to work out what it was about her, she really had that X factor, and she had it in spades."
Mr Beard said he had been informed that people of all ages were travelling great distances to pay their respects to his mother this weekend.
"I'm deeply touched that people who have worked with my mother throughout the years are making a pilgrimage to her funeral," he said.
"She was the sort of woman that even if people met her just once, they would remember her, she always made an impression.
"She will be greatly missed."