Thank you to each and everyone of you for your most kind words following Jan’s passing. She would have been astounded by the amount of support she has received from her Manly “familyâ€Â.
Jan was raised some 70 metres from the harbour beach at Manly. To say that she loved the Manly area and the lifestyle that it provided would an understatement. For Jan any person who come from the “other side†(translation west of the Harbour Bridge) was not normal, how could they be she would say if they did not live on a beach!, the further west they came from the more she would be cynical of them, heaven forbid if they came from as far west as Parramatta!, to her they were simply lost souls and not worthy of speaking of, and as for their football team the term “slime†was most appropriate.
She was not a “footy head†in the sense that most of us on this forum are, she simply loved Manly and their football team. Every game we went to she would ask me a question as to why they did this or the referee did that (I often didn’t have an answer for the referee other than he was stupid and got it wrong)
Jan was first diagnosed with Breast Cancer some 5 ½ years ago. In that time she would have missed only 3 or 4 games at Brookvale as well as attending many away games, particularly the interstate ones. She was simply determined to not missing games at Brookvale. During our trips away we met many people who similarly enjoyed our passion, without exception we found each Manly fan we met friendly and happy to share a drink or a cab to the ground, Manly fans are simply something special and for me are what makes this club what it is.
Since being diagnosed with Breast Cancer Jan received great support from not only the supporters but also a number of players, Solomon Haumono and Adam Cuthbertson in particular. Jan first met Solo when she first went through chemotherapy and he spoke to her on a number of occasions during her chemo treatments, urging her to continue when at times giving up would have been an easier option.. Solo would always seek Jan out when the team did their traditional walk around the ground when they won.
It was mentioned earlier in this thread that Adam Cuthbertson also had a soft spot for Jan. You may recall that in the match at the Gold Coast last year Adam wore a pink headgear that was later auctioned on E-Bay with the proceeds going to Breast Cancer research. Jan was particularly touched by this gesture and she asked me to thank him for wearing when I got to the post match function as she was not well enough to go to that game. I did get to speak to Adam that night but he spoke by phone longer to Jan, than he spoke to me. Jan was thrilled to speak with Adam that night, but it did not end there. A short time later a signed photograph of Adam arrived from that match, signed “to Jan, my biggest fanâ€Â. Adam kept in contact and shortly before Christmas last year he visited Jan in our home and presented her with his signed match worn jersey from that match on the Gold Coast.
I am so proud that Dan has established the Silvertails tipping competition in Jan’s honour. It will be a fitting memorial for a person who only wanted one thing, and that was for Manly to win, and that is something that everyone that uses this forum would all agree with.
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