12°C
First of all, thank you everyone for attending here today and also to those who are watching it on-line. I know that Janine's cousin, Angela and family are watching from Warrnambool as well as Chrissie in Bendigo. Janine would be wrapped with so many people here. She loved a party.
Janine Lesley Bonnitcha was born on the 18th of June 1963 to Alan and June Bonnitcha. She had 3 older brothers, Stephen, Craig and Andrew and later a sister Gabrielle.
Janine was born with learning difficulties and deafness, she also had a dislocated hip which needed a frog plaster. She attended Lady Rowallen House for the deaf set within Campbell Street School as well as Talire and Dora Turner special schools.
Growing up with Janine was a lot of fun. She was always teasing everyone, such as "… a pinch and a punch for the first of the month" made my arms sore.
When Mum and Dad bought a block of land at Park Beach, us kids were tasked with pulling out ferns which we each received 1cent a fern. Strangely, every time I turned around, my stack of ferns was getting smaller and Janine's was getting bigger! She always knew the value of easy money.
Janine loved our family holidays around the State, it piqued her love of travelling later in her life. She idolised her big brothers, Stephen and Craig and would follow them around constantly.
Once Gay came along she found a soul mate and they were best of friends growing up.
After school, Janine gained employment at Tastex in Glenorchy which is run by the St Vincent de Paul Society employing people with disabilities.
They made school uniforms, and uniforms for the corporate world including the Police Force. Janine absolutely loved working there, and she was good at her work. In her final years there it was down to Janine to check each uniform to make sure they were made properly. She was a well-liked and trusted employee for 35 years.
Once she retired from Tastex, she had several part-time jobs at various cafés and hotels.
When Covid hit, she didn't have to work anymore and instead went into part-time then full-time activities with Cosmos, Aurora and Mosaic.
Cosmos was a lifetime supporter of Janine and most disabled people in Tasmania and deserves special thanks for the work they do.
There are so many people and organisations that deserve praise for the support they provide, and we as a family give heartfelt thanks for those who looked after Janine and made her feel special.
Then we came to her living in care homes.
As a family we didn't know what to expect when we decided to put Janine into her first care home some 20 odd years ago, but NEXUS made the transition seamless, we thank you all for the care, love and support you have given Janine over the years, you are all her second family.
Matt from Nexus will speak of her time there shortly.
There are simply too many carers to name, but I am sure you all remember Janine with fondness and love and would have your own stories to tell and memories to keep.
I do have to mention one person, Cheryl, who made her last years, after the passing of Janine's Dad, bearable. With love and kindness, you embraced Janine as one of your own, gave her hope and security and understood her more than anyone.
In a note you'd sent me yesterday, you write that you can picture Janine eating a bread roll with butter, drinking as much coke and eating as much ice cream as she wants, has retired from Day Services, moved into her own place and is going on a cruise.
Thank you, Cheryl. We love you.
There are other carers who I have reached out to as well and thank you to each and every one of you. You are all wonderful people for the work you do.
Special mention is to be made to her good friend Alan, as pure a friendship as there could be.
Also to her recent housemates, Alanna, Julie and Christie and all the friends Janine has made through NEXUS, Cosmos, Aurora, Mosaic, the Blind and Deaf Association and Speak Up Stay Chatty communities.
Her bowling colleagues, her special Olympics friends, basketball and running mates. You all made Janines life special.
Janine loved her Mum and Dad more than anyone. They looked after her for more than 40 years and only had to give her up once they both became ill.
Dad was Janine's Daffy Duck and she was his Daisy. They would constantly tease each other, chasing each other around having Mum in fits of laughter.
Mum and Dad gave Janine a strong Christian upbringing, they taught her right from wrong and encouraged her in every pursuit Janine was curious about.
They would listen to Janine sing along to Elvis and ABBA in that "unique" voice of hers, praising her all the while (I don't know how they did it!). It was a special relationship.
Since Dad passed away, Janine had been going to Mum's for two days a week where they would, among other things, play UNO. If Mum won, Janine would look at Dad's photo and say "Mum's cheating!".
Bottom line is Janine loved her family: her parents, brothers, sister and sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews.
Janine loved her sport, especially football, as I am sure everyone here today is well aware off. Hawthorn and Sydney, Sydney and Hawthorn, depending on who was doing better.
With everyone she met for the first time, the first thing she would ask was what team they went for. If it wasn't Sydney or Hawthorn it would be thumbs down with a "boo" and "no good".
For the last 6 years, North Melbourne, my team, have been going terribly, so practically every week, as soon as she got the opportunity, she would burst out laughing and tell me "North stinks!"
I am going to miss the next few years not being able to get her back, so once again, Janine gets the last laugh.
I am sure everyone here are in as much shock as we are at the suddenness of Janine's passing. It came upon her so quickly that it caught us all by surprise.
Janine had trouble expressing herself, so when she'd say she was sore here or sore there, no-one was able to put two and two together to even consider cancer.
No-one is to blame for missing it. I don't blame myself even though I knew her better than anyone.
I took her out for lunch Monday last and she seemed ok, bit short of breath but still laughing and joking and yelling out to people she knew. To be gone just five days later is unbelievable.
Janine was a one of a kind, she had the biggest heart, the most caring, fun loving person you could ever wish to meet and we will all miss her dearly.
Rest in peace my little ratbag … we all love you darling. Give Daffy hell up there.
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