JO REDDICK

Josephine Margaret (Jo) Reddick leaves her three beloved sons Tom (Fran), Andy (Vanda, deceased 2016), and John (Luanne). She also leaves behind her treasured grandchildren David, Angela, Michael, and Julia, and her great-granddaughter Eleanor.

Jo is also survived by her cousin Sonia McCleery, her niece Janet Foley-Lynch, and her nephew Michael Foley.

She was predeceased by her husband Harold (Rip) Reddick, her parents Margaret (Jones) and Reginald Oake, her sister Christine, her brother-in-law Pat Foley, and her nephew Stephen Foley.

Jo was born in England on August 23, 1926 in Leigh-on-Sea. Like her mother, Jo trained as a nurse at South End-on-Sea. She was awarded the Saunders Silver Medal for nursing upon graduating.

After the war, she came to Canada, where she worked at the Red Cross Outpost Hospital in Thessalon, Ontario.

In 1953, she was introduced to Rip in Kemptville by a nursing colleague. She and Rip were married soon afterwards. With Rip, she shared a love of the Canadian outdoors – fishing, snowshoeing, canoeing and hiking. Jo enjoyed music, travel, telling funny stories, and encouraging “kids to be kids”.

While raising her three boys, Jo worked as a nurse in Belleville, volunteered with the Mental Health Association, taught prenatal classes and helped young single mothers. She also taught nursing at the Edith Cavell School of Nursing and Loyalist College in Belleville.

She studied at home to receive her Bachelor's Degree in Psychology, and she later earned her Master’s Degree in Science. In 1975, she began teaching at Queen's University as an Associate Professor of Nursing and Anatomy, retiring in 1989. While at Queen’s, she taught students how to engage and support seniors coping with aging. She helped students plan social activities with seniors, a very popular one being a Sunday Afternoon Tea at City Hall which led to an annual Christmas dinner for seniors in the community that still runs. Another of her passions was advocating to improve geriatric and palliative care.

She was presented the Alumni Association Award for Excellence in Teaching at Queen's and the 3M Award for Excellence. In recognition of her commitment and enthusiasm, the nursing students instituted the Reddick Award for Excellence in Nursing Education in her honour, of which Jo was the first recipient.

After retirement, Jo cared for her grandchildren and continued to volunteer by assisting children in primary school with reading skills, literacy being a skill in which she was greatly interested. She continued to teach classes for the care of the aging and palliative care.

Memorial service will be held at John R. Bush Funeral Home, 80 Highland Ave., Belleville, ON 613-968-5588. Visitation at 1 P.M. Service at 2 P.M. Saturday March 18, 2017.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Quinte Humane Society would be greatly appreciated.