Reprinted with permission from the Levis MCC.
Jen Shanks, who recently passed away after a brave fight with cancer, will be a great loss to the Motorcycling SA family, and we share here the eulogy to our 2019 Regional Volunteer Award recipient from MSA President, Brenton Matters, with thanks;
From the Levis MCC;
Yesterday we said goodbye to our dear friend Jenny Shanks. This is the Club’s eulogy that Brenton Matters read out at the service:
On behalf of every member of the Levis Motorcycle Club, I offer our most heartfelt condolences to Jock and Jesse on Jenny’s passing.
The Shanks family has been part of the Levis family for many years. Jenny and Jock were always ready to get their hands dirty and help with motorcycling activities.
It was a very rare event that you didn’t see Jen, clad in her purple hi-viz vest wandering the course looking for just the right shot.
We all know how good a photographer Jen was. While she posted under the name Pretend Photography… her work was anything but Pretend!
Jen has taken thousands of shots and I would be safe to say that anyone who has ridden a competitive motorcycling event in SA in recent years would have a copy of a pic taken by Jenny Shanks.
What made her work so good was that it wasn’t just focussed just on the racing. Jen had a very keen eye for the people behind the scenes and, her candid shots often captured the “mood” of each event.
Jenny’s portfolio of work provides a unique record of motorcycling and motorsport in many parts of Australia over recent years.
For instance, Jen produced a fabulous visual record of the return of racing to Sellicks Beach. She catalogued every aspect of the events from setting up car parks, turning a beach into a racetrack, the racing, the bikes, the riders, the volunteers, the spectators and then the aftermath and returning Sellicks to a beach.
Just as we marvel at the old black and white pics of the good old days of Sellicks Beach racing, so too will Jen’s work provide a great history for future generations to admire.
But Jenny was far more than an excellent photographer, she was just a wonderful person and a great friend.
At the core, our Club is a very close-knit community and Jenny was, and remains, very important to that community. From pitching in around the camp on away trips, to slipping Easter eggs into everyone’s swags or just having a great time around a campfire, Jenny was there with her no-nonsense approach and wicked sense of humour.
The work Jenny and Jock have put into motorcycling cannot be understated and was recognised recently when they were presented an Award for their work at the MSA Night of Champions.
Jenny’s courage and the incredibly positive way she dealt with her illness was an inspiration to us all. She was taken from this world far too soon. But I can promise her memory will live on.
We miss you Jen.
