JDRF Australia mourns the passing of two of our founding figures
JDRF is an organisation founded by volunteers, governed by volunteers, and fuelled by the passion of volunteers. So, it is very sad to share with you the passing of two of the most influential volunteers in the establishment of JDRF Australia 50 years ago this year.
Clive Pack and Ann Roberts both passed away in the last week of February. Both were instrumental in the initiation and growth of JDRF for many of its early years. They will both be missed, but their legacy is an organisation ever more determined to deliver a world without type 1 diabetes (T1D).
Please see notices in memory for Clive and Ann below.
Clive Pack: 1937 – 2022
JDRF marks the loss of one of our founding fathers, Clive Pack who passed away peacefully last week at the age of 85. He was a caring and loving father of five: 4 boys (Tony, Geoff, Rob & Tim) and a girl (Elisabeth, RIP), grandad/grandpa to 4 boys (Harcharan, Giaan, Ben and Jake), and loving husband to Geraldine for almost 62 years.
In 1975, when Clive and Geraldine’s daughter was diagnosed with T1D, they met up with a group of like-minded parents of children living with T1D called DIABS, headed by Lorna and Brian Mellor, which was started in 1972. DIABS was determined to improve their lives, promote an understanding of the burden of living with T1D and ultimately find a cure. They successfully lobbied for better treatment and support for their children, promoted a better understanding of this disease and in time founded a fundraising business that has grown in to what has become JDRF Australia and has funded research that has been at the heart of major breakthroughs in T1D treatment ever since.
While T1D remains an insidious disease, the management and treatment of it has improved considerably over the last 50 years with the life expectation for a child diagnosed with T1D today being extended by 25 years compared to when Clive and Geraldine and others started with such determination in the early 1970s. From those founding efforts DIABs was born, eventually becoming the Diabetes Youth Foundation and ultimately JDRF Australia.
We are saddened greatly by the loss of Clive and pay our respects and condolences to his family.
Professor Ann (Monotti) Roberts
Ann Roberts, along with her husband Alan, were founding members of the JDRF Melbourne Chapter. On 4th June 1985, not long after her two year old son received a T1D diagnosis, Ann met with Geraldine Pack and subsequently took on the role as the first Melbourne President. The first meeting was held in the lounge of Ann’s Melbourne home.
Great credit goes to Ann for the establishment of the Melbourne Chapter, and for broader contribution to the national development of the organisation. Ann went on to represent JDRF as both a Board member from 1988 and pro-Bono lawyer working tirelessly across a variety of issues.
Ann is remembered for her tremendous passion and commitment to improving the lives of people living with T1D, her calm and considered leadership, and her caring and generous nature. She will be sadly missed.
JDRF Australia extend our deepest condolences to Ann’s husband Alan Roberts, her children, grandchildren and extended family.
