Professor Peter Howie, retired obstetrician and former Dean of Dundee University Medical School, pays a personal tribute to Jacqui Wood, who was buried this week.
Jacqui Wood was so vibrant and full of life that it is hard to believe that she is no longer with us. Meeting Jacqui always made you feel better.
Her total dedication to what she believed in was inspiring. Her cheerful optimistic personality was uplifting. Her deep caring concern for her fellow human beings was humbling and heart-warming.
Jacqui Wood was a very special person.
Carol Jacqueline Kitching was born in Bradford in 1945 and her father, who was a teacher, took the family first to Somerset and then to Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire. On leaving school, Jacqui became secretary to the directors of a building company.
Aubrey, who fell in love with her, complained that she was always working late because she was so conscientious. They married in 1966 and, when Sarah and then Rachel came along, Jacqui devoted herself to being a mum. As the children grew up, she became increasingly involved in voluntary work.
Her much loved grandfather and father both died of cancer and this was a major factor in Jacqui making cancer research her particular focus. She baked loads of cakes but the children rarely got any because they were always for the fete or the sale of work.
When she and Aubrey moved to Dundee in 1986, Jacqui immediately became involved with the Cancer Research Campaign and was chair of the local fund-raising committee on four occasions. But it was a meeting of Dundee Rotary Club that was to shape the rest of her life.
In the early 1990s, Dundee University had great strength in life sciences doing basic research in cancer. The university decided to exploit this by developing an additional cancer research base at the Medical School in Ninewells Hospital where cancer patients were being treated.
To lead this initiative, they wished to recruit Professor Roland Wolf and his team from Edinburgh. Roland, who already had research links with Dundee, said that he would come if “state of the art” laboratories were made available. The price tag was £1 million.
When half of the money had been identified, the principal Michael Hamlin, asked Pat McPherson if he would lead a public appeal for the balance. Pat said that he would bring his business experience and work in the background, but he needed someone with charisma to be the public face of the appeal.
When Pat saw Jacqui and heard her speak at the Dundee Rotary Club meeting, he knew immediately that he had found the right person for the job.Unbeatable teamJacqui and Pat made an unbeatable team. They recruited enthusiastic volunteers and got full support from the city council, the DC Thomson press, trusts and benefactors; but above all, Jacqui won over the ordinary people of Tayside to the cause.
Jacqui may have been born in Bradford, but Dundee took her to their hearts. The huge success of the Ninewells Cancer Appeal is now history. There were fun runs, coffee mornings, sponsored silences and students had their heads shaved in pubs; one elderly lady who met Jacqui in the street opened her purse and asked her to take what was there.
The generosity of the people knew no bounds. In leading the appeal, Jacqui set a number of golden rules. Every penny went to the Ninewells Cancer Appeal and none to the fund-raisers.
Every donation was equally important irrespective of its size. Warm letters of thanks had to be sent out immediately. She was prepared to go anywhere, at any time to receive a donation. Her photo appeared regularly in the papers with Dennis and the now famous slogan of “Help Dennis beat the Menace”.
Everyone knew that she did this for one reason only, namely to promote the success of the appeal.
The first Ninewells Cancer Appeal not only met its target but exceeded it; the extra funds were used to launch the second and third appeals which brought clinical research scientists to Dundee and strengthened the science base. Further projects have followed in bowel, skin and throat cancer, in leukaemia and in surgical treatment.
The Ninewells Cancer Appeal has raised £17 million and its work continues to the present day.SignificanceIt is difficult to overstate the significance of what Jacqui achieved. When Jacqui started the appeal, Ninewells had relatively few active researchers. Recently, the medical school has brought their active researchers all together in one division which numbers five hundred people.
Dundee’s research has made a huge contribution to the world-wide progress being made against cancer. The income from research grants and commercial |pin-out companies is crucial for the Tayside economy.
Dundee’s reputation for excellence in cancer research is a source of pride for the university and the city. None of these achievements would be as well advanced as they are today without the very special contribution of Jacqui Wood.
The cancer research appeal was not Jacqui’s only achievement. In England she was invited to become a magistrate. When she came north, she retrained for Scotland and served on the bench in both Dundee and Angus, gaining a reputation for being both firm but fair.
When she was on the Ninewells Hospital Trust as a non-executive director, she started “Keyhole Kate,” this shop in the concourse is staffed by volunteers and raises funds to provide additional comforts for patients.
She was a member of the board of Dundee College, was a trustee of the Leng Charitable Trust and president of Inner Wheel in Dundee.
In between all these activities, she gave over 220 pints of blood as a donor. She did all these things with grace and charm, motivated by a desire to help her fellow citizens.
It was inevitable that honours would come Jacqui’s way. She received honorary degrees from the universities of Dundee, Abertay and St Andrews; she was awarded the MBE and was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of the City of Dundee. She was made a life governor of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, now incorporated into Cancer Research UK of which was a founder member.
She always insisted that she accepted these honours, not for herself, but on behalf of the team that gave her so much loyal support.
We will remember Jacqui Wood, not just for her achievements, but also for the type of person she was.
Her dedication, her energy and her determination (dare I say her thrawn determination) were legendary. After one parachute jump for cancer research, she decided one jump wasn’t enough; on the third jump she broke both ankles. After treatment at DRI she was soon out directing affairs from her wheelchair.
She had the most extraordinary powers of persuasion. When she fixed her gaze on you and gave her little smile, you knew resistance was pointless. Once you agreed to her request, she just wrinkled her nose and said “Oh you are such a luv!”
She once told Roland Wolf that he was coming with her to receive a donation in Arbroath at a “clootie dumpling” supper; when Roland asked what a “clootie dumpling” was, he was told, “don’t worry, you will find out when you get there!” It was an evening Roland would never forget.
She had a marvellous ability to relate to people from every walk of life. Her laugh and her smile put people at their ease and she always seemed to manage the right word. She loved company, thrived on special events and was always well dressed for the occasion. No wonder she attracted such loyal support from those around her.
But above all, she cared deeply for other people. Even when she herself was ill and had to go to Ward 32, her first question would be how everyone else was. This deep concern for others was shown in the loving attention which Jacqui and Aubrey gave to Muriel and Pat McPherson when they needed it most.
From where did Jacqui Wood get her inspiration and strength?
Undoubtedly, Pat McPherson had a huge influence on her as they shared the belief that, one day, the menace of cancer would be overcome.
Jacqui got much strength from the loyal support of those who worked with her day by day and helped her when the going got tough.
She also valued hugely the love and support which she got from the whole community in her adopted home of Tayside.
Her whole family were central to her life; she could not have achieved what she did without Aubrey who loved her, believed in her and supported her every step of the way.
But Jacqui also had a strong faith manifested in her being an elder here in St Andrew’s Church. She believed in a Being greater than the earthly things around her; she knew that she was going to a place to meet loved ones who had gone before and where she would wait for loved ones who would come after.
If we listen carefully, I am sure we can hear these words from above “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”
It was inevitable that honours would come Jacqui’s way. She received honorary degrees from the universities of Dundee, Abertay and St Andrews; she was awarded the MBE and was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of the City of Dundee. She was made a life governor of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, now incorporated into Cancer Research UK of which was a founder member.
She always insisted that she accepted these honours, not for herself, but on behalf of the team that gave her so much loyal support.
We will remember Jacqui Wood, not just for her achievements, but also for the type of person she was.
Her dedication, her energy and her determination (dare I say her thrawn determination) were legendary. After one parachute jump for cancer research, she decided one jump wasn’t enough; on the third jump she broke both ankles. After treatment at DRI she was soon out directing affairs from her wheelchair.
She had the most extraordinary powers of persuasion. When she fixed her gaze on you and gave her little smile, you knew resistance was pointless. Once you agreed to her request, she just wrinkled her nose and said “Oh you are such a luv!”
She once told Roland Wolf that he was coming with her to receive a donation in Arbroath at a “clootie dumpling” supper; when Roland asked what a “clootie dumpling” was, he was told, “don’t worry, you will find out when you get there!” It was an evening Roland would never forget.
She had a marvellous ability to relate to people from every walk of life. Her laugh and her smile put people at their ease and she always seemed to manage the right word. She loved company, thrived on special events and was always well dressed for the occasion. No wonder she attracted such loyal support from those around her.
But above all, she cared deeply for other people. Even when she herself was ill and had to go to Ward 32, her first question would be how everyone else was. This deep concern for others was shown in the loving attention which Jacqui and Aubrey gave to Muriel and Pat McPherson when they needed it most.
From where did Jacqui Wood get her inspiration and strength?
Undoubtedly, Pat McPherson had a huge influence on her as they shared the belief that, one day, the menace of cancer would be overcome.
Jacqui got much strength from the loyal support of those who worked with her day by day and helped her when the going got tough.
She also valued hugely the love and support which she got from the whole community in her adopted home of Tayside.
Her whole family were central to her life; she could not have achieved what she did without Aubrey who loved her, believed in her and supported her every step of the way.
But Jacqui also had a strong faith manifested in her being an elder here in St Andrew’s Church. She believed in a Being greater than the earthly things around her; she knew that she was going to a place to meet loved ones who had gone before and where she would wait for loved ones who would come after.
If we listen carefully, I am sure we can hear these words from above “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”