A Shakespeare fan, Janet loved to spend her time reading and expanding her knowledge. This love of literature translated to her career, which she spent as a teacher after receiving a scholarship to a teacher’s college.

Self-described as noisy, but kind, she had loved crafts and being creative, mainly working with ceramics and tapestries.

When speaking about her life, she said she viewed it in different sections. There was her childhood, which was very happy, her average teenage years, and then the times she pursued her passion for teaching, and built a beautiful family life with her husband.

Initially, Janet taught primary-aged children, but was then sent to work as a high school teacher in Oak Flats. There, she taught children who were slow learners, struggling to keep up with their classmates. She did have a break from teaching to raise her children; however, she went back part-time when they were of high school age.

Although Janet noted that you should never dwell on memories, as you can’t go back to those times as it won’t be the same, her happiest memory was her wonderful marriage to Ron in 1947, which lasted almost 49 years. They had two children together, and she smiled as she mentioned she had many fond memories of their life together.

The advice that Janet wanted to leave for her family was to just be yourself – something that she tried to encourage as a mother as well as this: don’t try to keep up with other people or compare yourself to them. Janet stated throughout her life she helped everyone she could help, in all the ways she possibly could – giving back to those around you is important.

Janet lived at Warrigal for 25 years, and described these years as ‘very happy times’ in her life. She believed that her greatest achievement had been staying alive for as long as she had, meaning she could spend precious time with her two grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.