In October 2012, the Victorian Parliament made a formal apology to the women and children who were victims of the forced adoption policies of the past; it was a response to the tireless work and the pain and suffering of people such as Jo Clancy.
Thirty years earlier she had founded Australia’s – as far as her family knows, the world’s – first relinquishing-mother self-help group with the words: “We have endured a gulag of suffering.”
That aspect of her life was a significant factor, but it never defined her. She was, among other things, a mother, an activist, healthcare professional, quiz champion, environmentalist, grandmother and friend to many.
As the seventh of nine children, she would always have to find her ways to stand out from the crowd, and Jo generally managed that task with her combination of quick wit, candid opinion and formidable voice. Visitors to the Clancy family home, first in Brighton and later in Hampton, were struck by the volume and vigour of dinner table conversations, where each opinion was liable to be loudly respected and challenged in equal measure.
She attended Star of the Sea in Gardenvale before beginning a science degree at Melbourne University and later taking up nursing, working in midwifery at the Mercy Maternity Hospital, where she made life-long friendships.
This work had a particular poignancy for Jo, who, along with many other unmarried women of her generation, had succumbed to religious and societal pressure and gave up her first child, Kate, for adoption. When her second daughter, Ruth, arrived in 1969 Jo was determined to raise her child herself.
As a founding member of the Council for the Single Mother and her Child, Jo became a committed advocate for the rights of single women and their families at a time when the odds and the laws were stacked against them.
Later, the Australian Relinquishing Mothers Sisterhood was the last piece of the jigsaw of adoptees and adoptive parents seeking to change the laws to enable adoptees to be reunited with their biological parents. The publicity generated also played a part in Jo’s reunion with Kate.
Around the same time, Jo had a life-changing experience that allowed her to put her vast general knowledge and competitive instincts to work. She became one of the early champions on the TV show
Sale of the Century, winning two cars before electing not to take the risk of one more night for the possibility of winning all the prizes. That victory allowed Jo to buy her first home.
At home, which she shared with her sisters Barbara and Kathleen, as well as her mother Hazel, raising second daughter Ruth was a family affair. The challenges brought by Asperger’s syndrome added complications, but with Barb serving as a foster mother for some 40 children at various times, it was a case of many hands making light work.
After Ruth had finished school, the pair moved to the country, first to Kyneton with Jo’s brother Bill and family, and later to Woodend. It proved to be the best move of her life, as the community embraced them both.
Around this time Jo met and married Des Rycroft, but their marriage was short-lived as Des, a flying instructor, was killed in an ultralight crash. It was another sad blow for Jo in a life that contained more than its share, but she came through it with strength and determination.
That spirit found perhaps its perfect outlet in the Woodend community, most notably the local Landcare, where Jo’s love of nature could stretch beyond her garden, and her passion for activism was given free rein. Occupying many leadership roles, she put her energies into networking, through Rotary, Lions, the Heritage Society, U3A, the Landcare Network, Catchment Management Authority and the council. Some of this work received official recognition in 2016 when her favourite stretch of rail reserve was officially assessed to be rich in botanical significance.
Jo Clancy suffered heart failure and passed away earlier this year with her sister Eveline and nephew Jacob by her side, and surrounded by the love of her large extended family. She is now reunited with her daughter Ruth and siblings Pat, Barb, Bill, Jack, Kath, Laurie and Paul.
– The Age ~ Submitted by Rob Clancy, Josephine Clancy’s nephew
