AN icon of the Quambatook Football Netball Club, Jan Free has been remembered as a “spirited, competitive and tough” player.
Jan died on June 7, aged 75.
The football/netball club led the tributes to the Kerang and District Netball League (later renamed Golden Rivers) life member.
“Jan was an icon,” the statement said.
“Having played all her junior and senior basketball and netball at Quamby, Jan was a spirited, competitive and tough player against the opposition.
“Jan was an avid umpire, earning her C Grade badged, umpiring for the club and for the league during the finals.
“Furthermore, Jan held the position of treasurer with the club for many years and was a member of the general committee.”
Jan was the first person to be presented with a life membership to Quambatook Netball Club.
“When Jan stopped playing and umpiring, she still eagerly supported the club by scoring and helping out where needed,” the club tribute said.
“Right up until the final year of QFNC, Jan was known by all our netballers for her kindness and friendly manner, she also took a keen interest in the football.
“Yes, she did have her favourite players, and goodness help the opposition if one of our players got hurt.
“It is hard to believe that there would be a netballer that was in the KDNL or GRNL that didn’t know who Jan Jan was.
“She certainly loved her Saturdays at the footy.”
Jan’s partner, Jim Wallis, played 39 games for St Kilda between 1963 and 1965. He died in May 2022, aged 80.
Jan presented Tobie Cameron with the Jim Wallis Medal on an emotional-charged day in August 2022, when the club officially dissolved after 111 years of participation in various leagues.
Jan’s funeral service was held at Quambatook Co-operating Parish on June 17, officiated by local farmer and industry leader Brett Hosking.
Nephew Raymond told mourners Jan spent her childhood on the family farm near Cannie.
Those formative years, surrounded by Mallee bush, haystacks, and long summer days, were remembered with great fondness by her sisters.
“As a child, Jan’s independence and fiery spirit were already showing,” Raymond recalled.
“If she didn’t get her way, she’d famously head off to the back paddock with the family dog to cool off – returning only at dusk.
Jan attended the small Cannie state school, where a class of 10 meant every child had to join in every sport.
It was where her love of netball began, playing in the ruck for school footy and embracing competition with natural enthusiasm.
Her high school years were spent in Swan Hill, where she boarded during the week and immersed herself in tap dancing and elocution lessons.
After finishing school, Jan’s working life began – possibly helped along by a chat between her father and the local bank manager over a beer the night before – with a job at the bank.
“She loved the people, she loved the work, and they loved her back,” Raymond said.
“Jan was the type of person who remembered your name, your birthday, and your dog’s name too.”
But perhaps nothing defined Jan quite like her love for netball.
From junior teams to the senior leagues, she played, umpired, kept score, served as treasurer and secretary.
Her skill as an umpire was well known across the district, and her presence at court sides was something of a constant for generations of local netballers.
As one tribute put it this week: “There wouldn’t have been a netballer in the district who didn’t know who Jan Free was.”
Jan’s sense of duty extended well beyond sport.
She served as treasurer or secretary for almost every group and committee in the area; senior citizens, hall committee, tractor pull, ladies’ auxiliary and the football club.
She also loved a day at the races, whether at Swan Hill, Charlton, or Nyah, and made an annual pilgrimage to the Kerang Cup.
Social days out were often more about catching up with friends than placing bets.
And through it all, Jan remained a passionate Carlton fan, holding a membership for 35 years and travelling regularly to Melbourne by train to watch her team, undeterred by Jim’s allegiance to St Kilda.
At home, Jan’s personality shone through in unexpected ways – like her carefully arranged Ned Kelly shrine in the corner of her lounge room, full of memorabilia and books.
“Jim, always the stirrer, called the bushranger ‘nothing but a rogue’, just to get a rise out of her,” Raymond said.
Raymond said Aunty Jan was “our compass”.
“She showed us how to live generously, love deeply, and serve humbly,” he said.
