Susanna Freymark
Jane Harrison died aged 95 from vascular dementia on August 9 this year.
The last time IndyNR.com saw Jane was at the Ellangowan Hall centenary where she was wearing a soft silk shirt featuring a map of the world.
It was a fitting outfit for a woman who travelled the globe and found her final home of 40 years in Ellangowan.
On the day of the hall’s centenary celebrations, it was Jane’s 95th birthday and Richmond Valley mayor Robert Mustow gave her a bouquet of flowers.
Jane was born in Perth in 1928.
Jane’s grandfather was a doctor and he had one of the first cars in NSW – the number plate on that car was the number 5.
When World War II started, Jane was 10 years old.
She went to Sydney in 1936 and met her future husband Jock at Sydney University where they were both studying geology.
They married and went to Canada. They had two children – Ross and Fiona.
The family came back to Australia in 1959 to Adelaide and then to Sydney.
In the 70s, Jane and her husband travelled overseas to places such as Bangkok, Thailand, Philippines and New Zealand.
Jane and Jock bought the Ellangowan property in 1985 and built a home. Jane’s husband died in 1989.
On October 8, 2019, the Busbys Flat/Rappville bushfire ripped through Ellangowan and Jane “lost everything but her life and car,” her son Ross Harrison said.
She never fully recovered from the trauma of losing her home, he said.
Jane has been involved in the Casino CWA, the Ellangowan RFS for 22 years, Probus, Quota, the Drill Hall Museum and in 2011 she was the Clarence Valley Woman of the Year.
She has always been very community-minded, Ross said.
Jane has six grandchildren and nine great grandchildren. She lived at St Michaels Aged Care facility in Casino before she died.
The memorial service for Jane Harrison will be held this Saturday, September 14 at 10am at the Ellangowan Hall, Ellangowan.
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