'Dogs helping people'
Jen & John
19th December 2016
A familiar sight at the Southern Highlands Cancer Centre for many years was the lovely team – Jennifer Hall & Flynn.
Jen, always looking immaculate and professional, & Flynn, a gorgeous Kerry Blue Terrier, visited the cancer centre once or twice a week, providing comfort and a welcome distraction for people undergoing chemotherapy treatment.
Flynn entertained his clients with his repertoire of tricks, which delighted the patients, families and staff at the centre.
Jen had been battling health issues for a long time. She and her husband John passed away together in December. They are together forever.
Flynn has his forever home with Jen & John’s daughter, Jo and her family.
Jen & Flynn are sorely missed by everyone at the cancer centre.
They were always a bright light in some people’s darkest days.
Our heartfelt love and best wishes go out to Jen & John’s family.
Eulogy for John and Jenny Hall
from their daughter
Mum and Dad were always together. I can probably count on one hand the number of holidays they had by themselves - the first was when I was fifteen
and mum went to Spain with her sisters Lily and Doreen.
I remember this because I got my second ear piercing knowing Dad wouldn’t notice and by the time mum got back it would be too late to get in trouble.
Over the last few weeks, relatives and friends from England have told me stories of when mum and dad first met at 17. ‘Always together’; ‘inseparable’ and
‘woe betide anyone who got between them’ were repeated by many.
They were’t just about each other though, family was also very important to them. Even though we’ve lived far apart over the years, I have only spent
one Christmas without them in 47 years, our first when we moved to Australia.
To know how dad felt about his family you just have to listen to the songs he wrote for Jess, Ella & Jack. Dad was the first to visit me in hospital
after I had Jess. He looked down at her tiny face and was very quiet.
By that afternoon he was back with her song.
Ella’s was tougher because they had settled again in Canada and we were here - many miles apart. It conjures up his longing to be near his granddaughters.
Jack’s is fun and Australian, Dad knowing that they would finally
be living near us again.
Mum was my best friend and we always got on. I never went through the awkward teen stage that most of my friends did. If mum felt like a shopping day, she would ring the school and say I was sick and we’d go shopping in another town so we wouldn’t get caught! Mum was the best hostess, as some of you know, and we had some spectacular parties especially around Christmas.
Mum and Dad were a great partnership with amazing talents and had such a sense of adventure. They were hard working, extremely kind, loving and generous, and together they influenced and enriched many people in many countries with their contribution to music, history, architecture, quilting and especially their company Brooklin Models which became and still is,
world renowned.
I am very proud of their achievements and the influence they had on me and now my family. They will be greatly missed and remain in my heart always.