Long-standing Brightlingsea resident, Janet (Jan) Oliver died peacefully aged 90 with her daughters by her side in the early hours of January 20, 2026.

Jan moved to Brightlingsea with her husband and two daughters in 1972. In the early 1980s they separated (and later divorced) and Douglas moved to France, but Jan continued to flourish in Brightlingsea and its surrounds with her girls, Kate and Bonamy.

A trained infant amd primary school teacher, when she first arrived she started a playgroup for young children, which became a central hub for Brightlingsea families. Once her daughters reached school-age, Jan became a respected teacher at Brightlingsea Junior school where she taught for 30 years. When she retired, she continued to teach privately, often helping the children and the grandchildren of those she had taught at the school. Even when she decided to stop tutoring she remained passionate about child development, not least through her own much-loved grandchildren, Mathilda, Tom and Sasha.

She took an active part in many aspects of the Brightlingsea community she appreciated so much. The Panto Group, Studio Music, and Brightlingsea Museum all benefited from Jan’s passion, wit, organisational skills and generosity of time. Jan embraced her life at all its varied stages, joining clubs, taking part in important discussions, engaging in politics, singing, and walking along her beloved prom almost every day.

She was much loved by close and extended family, as well as by so very many friends; she will be sorely missed by the town. Rather than flowers, donations are invited to Arthritis UK in her memory.