I first met Jenny Dowell OAM when she was the mayor of Lismore, and I was sent by The Echo to take photos, of course.
Jenny seemed to do more in her public life for various groups and charities after she was mayor than before, tirelessly giving her time and energy to worthy causes and the arts she loved so much.
The personal touch
For anyone who was on Jenny’s Facebook friends list, every year on your birthday she would remember to say happy birthday in a public post.
But Jenny also took out time from her life to reach people on a personal level and I know it was not just me who was the beneficiary of her time and energy.
Of course we got talking about cancer after my 2024 diagnosis. She was always very supportive and was happy to answer questions, even quite personal questions, about her own diagnosis and prognosis, even when it became clear that she would not survive the latest onslaught of metastasising cells.
Jenny was always clear, concise and frank about everything, including what was happening with her body, so brave for someone who was looking down the barrel of a terminal illness.
Whenever I’d have to have a blood test or a scan, she always wanted to know the results and was always overjoyed at my positive (negative) result.
The last few days
It was no secret that Jenny had a couple of months ago, applied for, and received a Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) permission. When I spoke to her on Saturday she told me she had had enough and would be dying on Tuesday (yesterday).
Even less than a week before she departed this existence she wanted to make sure that I had given her the results of my latest colonoscopy and responded about how happy she was that I was okay. ‘Brilliant news! You’ve made my day.’ Always positive, always supporting, always standing there with you. And I know it wasn’t only me. I’m sure there would’ve been many people who received this one-on-one attention from a woman whose days were numbered.
Gratitude doesn’t seem to be a big enough word or emotion… suffice to say that I appreciate immensely her time and effort to make me feel better, knowing that her own life was slipping from her grasp.
Jenny’s husband Ron posted this online at around noon yesterday, March 24:
‘Jenny, my beautiful and beloved wife of 46 years, died peacefully this morning. She was serene as our children Georgie and Tim, as well as her sister Robyn were present and she died knowing that she is much loved by her community.’
Vale Jenny Dowell – you will never, ever be forgotten – not as long as I live anyway – and according to my last round of tests, that could be a while.
A service for jenny will be held next Tuesday, March 31, at 10am (AEST) in the Quad, Lismore. The service will be livestreamed for absent, interstate and overseas friends.
In lieu of flowers, friends are invited to donate, in Jenny’s honour, to the Cancer Council.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
