Ground-breaking Daramalan College teacher Jean Reid has sadly passed away at the incredible age of 106 years.
She passed away on September 1.
Mrs Reid and colleague Mary Barton were the only female, and only lay, teachers at the then boys-only Daramalan College when it opened on February 1, 1962, the rest of teaching staff priests and brothers.
The pioneering teachers reunited in 2018 during a visit to the school.
Mrs Reid was a pioneer for the school in other ways, forging ahead with what is now known as "inclusive education'', helping those students with learning difficulties.
Bernard Kane, a former student and staff member at Daramalan, wrote in a tribute to Mrs Reid that she "went on to establish the Department of Remedial (later Special) Studies in 1967 which was later to became a model for other schools in supporting students who need additional time and effort with their academic development".
Back in 2018, Father Jim Littleton, 88, Daramalan principal from 1971 to 1979, remembered Mrs Reid making a big impact.
"She would have been ahead of her time at that stage," he said, at the time.
"Other people from other schools would come to see what we were doing. She was quite remarkable."
Mr Kane wrote that the mother-of-six retired from Daramalan in 1981 to "act as a special education consultant to the MSC colleges around Australia and was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in 1985. The college recognised the impact she had by naming the 'Reid Wing' in her honour".
Mrs Reid retired to Rosedale on the South Coast and sadly lost her home in the 2019 bushfires.
The college raised more than $6000 to help her establish a new life in Moruya.
Mrs Reid made regular trips to Canberra to get her hair done at the Cataldo's salon, including on her 104th birthday.
She always got her hair done by one of her former students, Emilio Cataldo, owner of the salon.
Mrs Reid's funeral will be held on Wednesday, September 14, at 11am at the the Sacred Heart church, 32 Queen Street, Moruya.
