My old friend Jan Bliss passed into eternal life on Sunday 1 December 2013.
I met Jan when I first started teaching at Patrician Brothers' College Fairfield. Jan was the ESL teacher. She would spend 4 afternoons a week working with me with 5D, as we attempted to get the boys to be able to read and write.
We had many good times with our old friends Brother Richard, Bill Parker and Pat Tighe. The weekend Staff Developments at the Sisters of Charity Wahroonga were memorable - Jan getting drunk on Bailey Irish Cream; Jan smuggling in more alcohol for us and hosting the drinks in her room; me passing her and Brother Richard off as being married so we could get into a club.
Jan was very passionate about anything she put her mind to. Her first love was teaching especially English. She worked extremely hard in developing a Spelling program. She had a great love of horses and fought Ryde Council to keep a trotting training track open. She had a long family tradition of unionism and support for the ALP.
After her retirement her health deteriorated. She had a knee replacement and suffered from blood clots, which lead to a series of strokes. She was then diagnosed with cancer. She seemed to be on the improve after treatment for all these things, but it would seem that she suffered from another series of strokes.
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