A much-loved former breakfast radio host and ABC newsreader is being remembered as one of the ‘great ones’ of broadcasting.
Jan Deane, who was breakfast show host at Victorian regional radio station 3SR before moving to the ABC where she worked for 20 years as a journalist and newsreader in Shepparton, Bendigo, Ballarat and Melbourne, has died at age 70.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allen tweeted the news on Thursday while paying generous tribute.
‘You may not know her name, but so many of us in regional Victoria would instantly recognise the voice of Jan Deane,’ Ms Allan said.
‘Jan was an incredible journalist – a Shepparton girl who I first met when she was reading the news for Bendigo’s own 3BO.
‘My heart goes out to her family, friends and colleagues. Thank you Jan, for being such a strong voice for country communities.’
Former colleague and Victorian Country Hour presenter Warwick Long also paid tribute.
‘My heart aches today,’ he wrote on Thursday.
‘We lost a great one who sat next to me in ABC Shepparton for years.
‘A beautiful singing voice, a sly sense of humour and an eye for detail.
‘Hosted a Shepparton TV show, read the state ABC news bulletin and loved amateur theatre.’
When Ms Deane left the ABC in 2018 listeners flocked to express their appreciation on social media.
‘The end of an era,’ one wrote.
‘ABC Goulburn Valley will not be the same,’ another said.
‘The dedication and experience that Jan possesses, cannot be easily replaced. You’ve enriched the lives of an immeasurable amount of people over the years.,
Ms Deane, who was from a well-known Goulburn Valley family, entered into radio after starring in amateur theatre and hosting a daily morning show on the local TV station GMV 6.
While she was working in sales then 3SR manager Steve Woods saw Ms Deane’s on-air potential because she ‘was so well connected around town’ but also because of her remarkable singing voice.
‘We used to have a live band in the studio on Friday mornings and Jan would sing live to air,’ Mr Woods told Radio Today.
‘She had an incredible Barbra Streisand voice.’
Ms Deane moved to Bendigo station 3BO to become a journalist and then to Melbourne ABC 774 radio becoming a news reader.
Eventually she moved back to Shepparton, where she kept working for the ABC, and became a regular newspaper columnist, writing book reviews for the Shepparton News.
‘What I’ll remember most about Jan is her passion for Shepparton and her deep love for words,’ McPherson Media Group director of content and audience Christine Anderson said on Thursday.
‘On behalf of Shepparton News, I’d like to extend our deepest condolences to Jan’s family and friends.’
Ms Deane kept true to her theatrical and singing vocation and starred in local productions, playing the leads as Maria in The Sound of Music and Mary in Jesus Christ Superstar.
The cause of her death has not been made public.