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Newcastle Herald

Simon McCarthy

Stacey Klimovitch remembered at memorial softball gala day at Mayfield

Stacey Klimovitch Peter Lorimer Memory Stockton (Geopolitical Entity) Mayfield (Geopolitical Entity) Jason Paul Hawkins Stuart Campbell NDSA Strikers

Maddie Klimovitch winds up at bat for a memorial gala day on Saturday, October 12, in memory of her mother, Stacey Klimovitch, who was murdered at Stockton in 2021. Picture by Peter Lorimer

Scenes from the Newcastle District Softball Association's memorial gala day in memory of murdered Stockton grandmother Stacey Klimovitch on Saturday, October 12. Picture by Peter Lorimer

Stacey Klimovitch was a regular face around the Mayfield grounds of the Newcastle District Softball Association. Her family had strong ties to the Strikers - renamed Stacey's Stars at the weekend - and her children still play for the team.

When news broke of her brutal murder three years ago, it sent the local sporting community into shock.

Mrs Klimovitch was a respected community swimming teacher - a beloved mother and grandmother - and a vital part of her local softball club. Her loss was a tragedy too difficult to imagine.

At the weekend, her adult children were surrounded by friends for a special pre-season memorial gala gameday to honour her memory and raise funds and awareness for domestic violence prevention.

From social players to the national women's shortstop and second baseman Stacey McManus - who arrived home from abroad only earlier that morning and travelled directly from Sydney to play - Stevenson Park was full of action on Saturday, October 12, as the various clubs in the NDSA came together in a friendly cross-division gala ahead of the competition's first round next week.

Stacey Klimovitch. Picture supplied by Steph Klimovitch

"I think this has brought the softball community together," Strikers president Christine Halpin said. "The Klimovitchs have been here for 29 years; they have grown up (here). It's a nice community sport that we have here."

Mrs Klimovitch's daughters, Maddie and Steph, said their family have been taking their mother's loss one day at a time and were glad to be among friends at the weekend.

"We have stuck together," Maddie said before heading out to bat. "The family has all got behind us, and we are always here for each other."

Teams paid a nominal registration fee for the day, as the NDSA sold domestic violence prevention merchandise, the proceeds of which were donated to the local refuge Nova for Women and Children.

"Today is to let people know that there are people you can go to," Maddie said. "If you can't go to a family member, there are people around who can help."

Mrs Kilmovitch, 61, was shot dead after answering her front door on Queen Street at Stockton around 8pm on June 9, 2021, in a "targeted" and "premeditated" murder masterminded by her former son-in-law, Stuart Campbell.

Mrs Klimovitch's infant grandchild was home at the time.

Campbell, who died in jail before facing trial, orchestrated the bloody plot and recruited Canberra man Jason Paul Hawkins as the gunman who shot Mrs Klimovitch and former Nomad bikie Stephen John Garland as the getaway driver.

Hawkins was sentenced to 32 years in jail, with a possibility of parole after 24 years in February for carrying out what Justice Peter Hamill described as a "premeditated assassination" and a "cold-blooded execution of a person with which he had no grievance".

The court heard Hawkins had long denied murdering Mrs Klimovitch, told a "fanciful" story during his NSW Supreme Court trial last year, and has not shown any remorse.

Mrs Klimovitch was remembered for her dedication to her family and as a respected local swimming teacher. During the sentencing proceedings earlier this year, her sister, speaking on behalf of their mother and siblings, told the court that her entire family was a victim of the "nonsensical murder of an innocent woman in her own home".

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