Jan Shepherd, Rest In Peace

A charter member of the Manila Single Malt Club passed away in the early hours of October 31, 2007, on a flight enroute from Melbourne, Australia to Manila, accompanied by another charter member of the club, her husband, Andrew King. The idea for starting a Manila Single Malt blog originated with Jan and it will be carried forward in her memory. She was sixty years old.

Although it was known that she had been ill, the news still came as a shock to her fellow members. Jan had been on oxygen for most of the past three years after undertaking a mission for the World Health Organization to New Delhi during the SARS outbreak. She returned suffering from some form of a Legionairres Syndrome that compromised her lung function.

Her husband, Andrew, delivered a eulogy at a well-attended memorial service for her earlier this week. She was born in England, came to Australia as a young woman and pursued a career as a pioneer in the field of psychiatric nursing in Australia, leading to work in various aspects of government service. She lived in Manila for the past eleven years, working on a number of projects for empowering women.

Her refreshing candor, sense of humor and the delight she took in the company of other expatriates is sorely missed and will be mourned by the club's membership.