TRIBUTES flowed for the late Jan Cathcart as a permanent reminder of her hard-working and easy going personality was unveiled at SunRice recently.
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Mrs Cathcart passed away almost two years, but she continues to be remembered by those who spent their days working by her side at the SunRice headquarters in Leeton.
As a result a garden chair was unveiled in her honour last week, which has now been placed at the entrance to the building.
While some joked at the official ceremony about the chair, others believed it was a fitting way to remember Mrs Cathcart.
“Now each time we all walk in to the building we’ll be able to think of Jan with a smile,” Rice Marketing Board (RMB) chairman Robyn Clubb said.
The ceremony to unveil the chair was attended by those that worked with Mrs Cathcart, including many of those that are now higher up in the company.
Mrs Cathcart started work at the RMB in November 1971 when she was 15. She transferred to Ricegrowers’ Co-operative Limited in 1985 and with Glen MacKinnon and Jon Sharman created the grower services department.
She became known as the “go-to” person for anyone in the company with a question.
Former SunRice chairman Gerry Lawson said he had many fond memories of Mrs Cathcart.
“Thank God we all knew Jan,” he said.
“I feel incredibly privileged to have known her and worked with her.
“The people she trained are still delivering for this company. It was also the farmers that especially had a soft spot for her.
“She was the person they wanted to talk to because they knew she would look after them.”
SunRice general manager grower services Mike Hedditch echoed Mr Lawson’s thoughts.
“There’s not a grower out there that doesn’t owe a great deal of debt to Jan,” he said.
“She had a superb work ethic … it seemed as though she worked 24/7, but she never wanted the acknowledgement for it.
“I know we all miss her every day.”
Mrs Cathcart’s sisters were on hand for the unveiling.
A scholarship has also been started in her honour.