Jill Barnett

A Tribute to Jill Barnett

Jill was born in Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards on 9th February 1949. Her parents were James Henry & Elsa Merle Barnett. Jill was the second of three children. Her sister, Anne, was four years older and her brother, Paul, was two years younger.  

Jill grew up on Sydney's northern beaches, initially in Carlton St, Harbord, then Bennett St, Curl Curl and then after her parents separated in 1956, in Willandra Rd Dee Why West. In 1980, Jill and her mother moved to a townhouse in Fisher Rd, Dee Why. Anne married in 1965 and moved to Tweed Heads in 1967. Paul married in 1971 & was divorced in 1976 before moving to Thailand to take up life as a Buddhist monk. Later he changed his name to Chittapala.

Jill's education began at Harbord Public School and from 1956, she attended Dee Why Primary School. Then she was at Narrabeen Girls High School for five years before she studied typing & stenography at Williams Business College, Dee Why. Around that time, she was enrolled in June Dally-Watkins School of Women's Etiquette. After graduating from Williams Business College, Jill was employed at North Sydney Technical College as a clerical assistant from 1969 to 2007. She very much enjoyed her working life.

At work, Jill had a couple of close male friends, but neither of these friendships transformed into relationships. She had an eye for good looking men and would tell them to their faces that they were handsome. Jill was a friendly person and would talk to anyone, anywhere. As a child, she would often talk to strangers walking past the family home in Curl Curl.  

Jill had strong connections with her parents. After the age of seven, she lived with her mother, siblings and stepfather, Dion. From childhood till around age fifty, Jill regularly spent weekends with her father Jim and his second wife, Doris, at their home in Padstow. Jim always had time for Jill and would phone her regularly. He had a knack of tuning in to her. Jill's stepfather, Dion, was very kind to her. After he passed away at the age of 49 in 1979, there was a very generous inclusion in his will for her.  

The pivotal relationship in Jill's life was with her mother, Elsa. They lived together for seventy years. Elsa was totally devoted to Jill's welfare and would do everything for her, including cooking fresh meals every weeknight. Jill loved her mother's cooking, especially the roasts, Shepherd's Pie and mouth watering desserts. Jill and Elsa were great company & support for each other. On one occasion in the early 2000's, Elsa suffered a mini stroke at the top of the stairs in their Dee Why townhouse. With amazing strength, Jill grabbed hold of her mother to prevent her from falling down the stairs.

Jill and Elsa participated in many activities together. They were supporters of the Manly Sea Eagles Rugby League team and were season ticket holders at Brookvale Oval for decades. They also supported the team at venues as far afield as Wollongong, Newcastle and Canberra. Other shared activities included cinema, musical shows, bingo and Tai Chi classes. They were both dedicated watchers of television soaps such as 'Days of Our Lives' and 'The Young and Restless'.   

Every Christmas and Easter, Jill and Elsa would spend the holidays with Anne and Jimmy and their children on the Gold Coast. In earlier times, Elsa would drive her car from Sydney. Later, train or plane became the mode of transport. In the seventies, Jill & Elsa started going on overseas holidays. Their first trip was to New Zealand, then two trips to visit Chittapala in Thailand, followed by holidays to Europe, America & Egypt. In 1986, Elsa's dearly beloved mother, Gladys, had a fall at her Freshwater home. Subsequently, Elsa invited her to live at Dee Why so she could take care of her. Elsa retired at this time and she and Jill discontinued their overseas travels. Gladys passed away in the Dee Why townhouse in 1991.

Jill loved shopping and collecting things. She owned thousands of books and hundreds of dvds, cds, games, toys and fluffy dolls. She spent countless hours working on jigsaw puzzles, Leggo sets and macrame. She enjoyed watching television, especially comedies such as Are You Being Served, Fawlty Towers & Keeping Up Appearances. She also loved Dr Who, Star Trek, Lost in Space and horror movies. Her favorite movie of all time was The Sound of Music which she watched possibly hundreds of times.   

At Dee Why West and at Dee Why, Jill's cherished companion was Hey You, a black and white female cat. Most of the time, Hey You dwelt on Jill's bed. When Hey You eventually passed away, Jill didn't want to replace her. In later years, Jill's constant companion was an animated toy monkey, which she named 'Heidi'.  

From childhood, Jill was somewhat an unusual person. She was quirky and had a childlike nature. She had a phenomenal memory of early events in her life and could be very fixed in her ways. In the early 2000's, a health professional commented that Jill possessed classic Asperger's Syndrome symptoms. Jill's immediate family was previously unaware of this. This was unfortunate because if Jill had been diagnosed with Asperger's early in life, she would have received help to improve her socialization skills.   

In 2010, Jill and Elsa moved to Currumbin Waters, Queensland to be near Anne & her family. Adjusting to this new location was difficult for Jill as she lost much of the independence she enjoyed in Sydney. Whilst living at Dee Why, public transport was at her doorstep and it was easy for her to travel alone to the city to shop or go to the cinema. Jill regularly attended the Royal Easter Show, the Powerhouse Museum, Dr Who or Star Trek conventions. At Currumbin Waters, she was less inclined to go out by herself and with aging and reduced mobility, she became increasingly house bound. 

In February 2019, Elsa moved to Bupa Tugun Aged Care. Initially, Jill coped with this separation as she was able to join her mother a few times a week for activities such as bingo. However, with the advent of covid, visitors were not allowed to participate in Aged Care activities. There were many lockdowns at Bupa Tugun Aged Care during 2020-2021 and meetings between Jill and Elsa became infrequent. This was heartbreaking for Elsa. Jill's health problems increased and after spending some weeks in hospital, she was also admitted to Bupa Tugun Aged Care in November 2021. Jill's health deteriorated significantly in the months before Elsa's passing in March 2022 and she was not able to attend the funeral.  

For many years, Jill had been saying she did not wish to continue living if her mother passed away, and that she wanted to quickly follow her to the grave. Thus, it was not totally unexpected that she passed away just six months after her mother. Jill spent her last days in palliative care at Robina Hospital. She endured this stoically and there was a serene expression on her face when she departed. A warm heart, the happiest of smiles. It seems we all have fond memories of Jill.