Maggie Beer’s emotional tribute to daughter one year after sudden death

Sunday marked one year since Maggie Beer’s daughter Saskia died unexpectedly at the age of 46, and the celebrity chef is remembering her beautiful daughter. Saskia died in her sleep on February 14, 2020.

Now speaking to The Advertiser, Maggie, who’s still coming to terms with her daughter’s sudden, devastating death, has opened up on how she’s been coping.

“I don’t know that any mother or father ever truly recovers,” she told the news outlet on Sunday. “But there will be a stage where the good memories and the love will overtake the loss.”

Maggie went on to praise her daughter for her hard-working ways, saying she had “a true entrepreneurial spirit”.

“She was a better businesswoman than Colin [Maggie’s husband] and I in lots of ways,” Maggie said. “But like me she would undertake something whether it made money or not. It was always about the idea. Everything had to be as good as it could be … forget the cost.”

Saskia followed in her mother’s footsteps to establish a career in the food industry, setting up her own business called Saskia Beer Farm Produce.

Maggie also remembered her daughter as “an old soul” who was “fiercely loyal”, saying: “She wasn’t easy. She could be prickly. She had fierce loves and was fiercely loyal. And she didn’t suffer fools.”

The anniversary of Saskia’s death comes just a few months after it was revealed her family had created a fellowship in her honour to keep her memory alive.

“We’ve created a Churchill Fellowship in Saskia’s honour, so her name will be perpetually there to in some way continue the work she was doing in terms of farming innovation,” Maggie told The Australian Women’s Weekly in November last year.

At the time of Saskia’s death, the Australian cook and author put out a statement in which she revealed that her “beautiful and extraordinary” daughter had died suddenly. Maggie announced the news on social media as she thanked her followers for the support she has received, as well as asking for space as the family comes to terms with what has happened.

“It is with broken hearts we need to let you all know that our beautiful, extraordinary daughter Saskia died unexpectedly yet peacefully in her sleep on Friday night,” she wrote on Instagram. “We ask for time/space as we grapple to come to terms with our loss and appreciate all the support we have been given. Maggie, Colin and family.”