To Norman,Sarah,James and Peter and the wider family circle. I am so very sorry for your loss. Jennifer will be greatly missed and fondly remembered by many.
I worked as Finance Manager in Ulster Wildlife from 2011 to 2019. Jennifer arrived in 2012 and from the beginning was an energetic,positive and hard working leader of the organization. She was clearly passionate about conservation and the environment and just as important to her, committed to communicating that passion and energizing others to progress the work in which Ulster Wildlife is engaged.
Jennifer had other leadership qualities, she was warm and engaging and kind to her colleagues. She took great pride in the work of staff and volunteers and often spoke to praise people in a variety of activities; a project or work going well; a media appearance or a meeting presentation. She was a ‘listener’ and had a real gift for seeing things from the other person’s point of view which is vital when conservation can sometimes be perceived to be in conflict with ‘economic progress’.
When John Witchell, in his tribute to Jennifer, referred to being driven long distances by Jennifer in her enthusiasm to show him various conservation sites, I was reminded of one journey with Jennifer to the office of East Border Region in Newry who were involved in CANN, a major bog restoration project. While her two passengers were barely awake and Jennifer was enthusing in some detail about the project, we missed the turnoff at Sprucefield and ended up in Moira followed by a journey to Newry at some speed along ‘more scenic’ country roads.
The environment minister described Jennifer as an exceptional person, my husband ‘joked’ that she was one of the very few people that I have worked for over my career who I clearly held in high regard, so she must have been exceptional…and she was.
Although her passing must have been a terrible shock to you all, I hope that you can take some comfort from her considerable achievements, the profound effect she had on many people she met and worked with and memories of happy times you enjoyed as a family.