I first met Jill in 1970 when she, Tim and Dickon arrived in Ottawa, a few months after we had arrived.
It was the custom that the last English couple who immigrated to Ottawa would help orientate the new family, so they became our friends.
I was fascinated by Dickon’s name and Jill told me that she had been reading The Secret Garden just before Dickon was born. This lead to me re-reading the book.
In Ottawa Jill was involved in setting up a “day care” group.  There were 4 mothers and 8 children.  Each week one of the mothers would have a day off and the remaining 3 adults would care for all the children.  We often used these days for Doctor and Dentist appointments and it was a great opportunity to visit stores without little ones hanging on. Jill would often help me with our two new babies.
On one of Jill’s days off she surprised us by returning with a baby, Sarah, and told us she had got her from a local shopping centre.  It turned out that the Children’s Aid Society was located in the mall.
Jill and Tim are godparents to one of our daughters, Karen, and in almost 50 years Jill has never missed her birthday or Christmas. She also celebrated the birth of our two grandsons with packages flying to Australia and Vancouver. In 2005 while in Sydney Jill took the opportunity to fly to Coffs Harbour to visit Karen and her family.
It was always a pleasure to meet Jill when she accompanied Tim to international conferences. Jill was such a good friend that it was easy to resume our friendship even though sometimes we hadn’t seen each other for a few years.
Jill was a charming host both in Ottawa and England, and one of the best people to have as a guest.
Goodbye my red headed friend.