Administrator
|
Jackie's friend and colleague for many years, John Brice, has provided this obituary:
Jackie Hearn 1946 – 2014
Jackie Hearn – who worked in the national radio newsroom in a variety of roles for more than 20 years – has passed way after a long illness.
She began her BBC career in 1974 with BBC Radio Medway after a spell with the Municipal Journal writing about local government affairs.
Her contacts with senior police officers led her to edit a weekly programme Crime Call which involved the local police making appeals to the public for help in solving crimes.
One of the main presenters was Chief Superintendent David Hatcher who went on to become a main character in Crimewatch on national television. He said: ‘Without Jackie’s help and guidance I would never have been able to make the transition to Crimewatch. Her vision for the programme was way ahead of its time.
‘She was a brilliant journalist and a wonderful woman who will be sadly missed.’
While at BBC Radio Medway, Jackie covered many of the big stories of the day. Her news editor at the time, Langley Brown, said: ‘From the start of every working day Jackie would lift our spirits by opening new prospectives on whatever was on the menu. She was the sunshine in so much of our lives.’
She left Medway to join the BBC in the national newsroom at Broadcasting House in London. There she began working on the local radio desk.
From there she began writing the hourly news summaries for all five of the BBC’s national radio stations. She also worked as a reporter covering the major UK stories of the day.
It led to her doing shifts as News Organiser and Foreign Duty Editor.
During her time in Medway, she worked with Richard Clark who is now the Editor of the BBC Newsroom.
He paid this tribute to her: ‘What made Jackie a joy to work with was the lack of ego. As someone who has worked as a reporter and producer, and had worked in the field as well as the newsroom, she had ‘been there, seen that, done it’ but this never led her to believe she was bigger than the story.’
Jackie retired in 2007 after 33 years working for the BBC in a variety of news roles.
She was born in Strood. She had two older brothers, Chris who now lives in Spain and Michael who has made his home in Australia.
She went to the Elaine Avenue Junior School and onto Chatham Grammar School for Girls before going into journalism.
She was closely involved in the music scene in the county and married her first love, the lead singer of Vanity Fair, Trevor Brice.
She often told the story of watching him appear on Top of the Pops wearing one of her waistcoats which she had thought was missing.
Five years ago she was diagnosed with breast cancer. After lengthy treatment, she appeared to be recovering. Then, unexpectedly, it returned and she passed away at Medway Hospital.
Throughout her life, Jackie was involved in various charity fund raising events. Her last challenge was part of a team which raised more than £50,000 during the last year to re-build a pre-school nursery in a township just outside of Cape Town.
She was also a familiar face at the Medway Beer Festival for the last 10 years, helping the organising team who run the event.
Her funeral is at the Medway Crematorium at 1100 on Wednesday 14th May followed by a celebration of her life at the King George V pub in Brompton.
|