A fitting farewell to a remarkable and incredible woman

Jamie TULIC

The Australian/Croatian community both here in Melbourne and in Croatia, (Korcula/Blato) has been left deeply saddened by the recent loss of a young woman whose world was truly her oyster. One of the first and most highly recognised ultrasonographers in Melbourne, Croatian born Jackie Cooke (maiden name Tulic), recently  passed away, leaving behind her daughter Jessica (14), son Stephen (12), husband Richard, mother Katica, father Paval, sisters Lily and Jamie (author of this article), as well as many loved relatives and friends in the early hours of April 1st, following her long and exhausting battle with cancer.

It indeed was heartbreaking news as a family has been left grieving, with only fond memories left behind to soothe their pain.

With this tribute, I say goodbye to and honour a woman who was the epitome of all things beautiful. A woman who knew how to show unconditional love and bring out the good in everyone. A woman of strong character and conviction. A woman who will be truly be missed.....

My sister Jackie was first told of her cancer diagnosis in 2000 and since then has, for eight years, fought her cancer before ultimately fighting her final battle and tragically succumbing to the disease a mere three weeks ago.

What started as breast cancer, quickly spread to the rest of the body as a more serious form of cancer, Metastatic bone cancer, a disease which took over her liver, kidneys, bones, skull and brain. It's a disease which takes lives each year and, despite millions of dollars having been invested in research, a cure is yet to be found.        

Jackie, or 'Jakica' as she was affectionately known, held on for a whole year despite being told by doctors that she only had six months to live. Such a strong woman, she kept taking her treatments and medications to the very last day, even knowing there was no chance to live longer.

Possessing a strong yet small frame (small because she was only half my size), my sister held on as long as she could so as to spend every last waking moment with those she loved the most - her children, husband and immediate family. 

Jakica Tulic was born on the 14th November 1958 in the Croatian town of Blato on the southern Dalmatian island of Korcula, which is situated on one of the Adriatic Sea's most beautiful Mediterranean coastlines. Born to proud parents, Katica and Paval Tulic, she was the darling of her family and the town as soon as she was conceived.

A little sweetheart, Jackie was loved by all - beautiful, cheeky and a "Shirley Temple" look alike (only with dark hair), she was the celebration of our town. Jackie loved prosciutto, figs and "stari's" vino. She especially loved helping dad produce his own. She also loved egg soup and oysters by the dozen, but generally speaking she ultimately loved fish, she was after all the daughter of a fisherman, whose family once supplied fish for their whole region on the island of Korcula.

The year of 1962, our mother took Jackie (who was four years old at the time), to Australia onboard the shipliner "Roma". They began their life together with dad living in Fitzroy before moving to Northcote to live with cousins. Northcote was where Jackie attended Westgarth Primary School. Here she spent a great deal of her childhood.

At the tender young age of 14, Jackie was unfortunately diagnosed with spinal sclerosis at the Prince Henry Hospital in St Kilda. Operated on and out of action for an entire year, she would live the rest of her life with a metal rod in her spine.

“DALMACIJA U MOM OKU!”

From what my parents and close family members tell me, Jackie was from an early age everything you would have envisaged her to be - loving, kind, generous, compassionate, caring and simply remarkable! She had a beauty that shined from within. She made everyone feel very welcome and wanted. 

Jackie was a true 'glamour' in her youth, a brilliant ballroom dancer and a very passionate individual. Jackie's travels around the world took her to places some of us may only ever dream of. She loved Croatia, the town she was born in, the folk, the heritage and the exquisite Croatian culture. She loved Croatian ensembles and ballads, she greatly loved the song 'Dalmacija u mom oku'.

She loved our little inlet called Bristva. The love and passion our father and Jackie shared for Bristva was enormous. Bristva was where the Tulics lived before they were brutally forced off their land by communists back in the day.

She had a love of life and adventure, and a passion for learning new things. She dedicated a great deal of her life to her family and children, but also she dedicated herself to helping others.

Growing up, her will and passion to help others and succeed in her own career guaranteed she would make it in her profession as a cardio technologist, a career she was highly ambitious in. Her dedication and passion in her role as a ultrasonographer helped her achieve all her goals - to make our parents proud, to show them that a Tulic could make it in that big world out there.

In her career as one of Melbourne's most respected ultrasonographer's, Jackie's accomplishments and reputation as a brilliant cardio technologist helped establish her own 'Diagnostic Medical Ultrasound' business. A business which was statewide and became highly sorted by patients and respected by competitors, a business that made her one of the most successful Blajke/Croatian born ultrasonographers in  Melbourne and Australia.

Extremely respected and well known throughout the medical field, she was loved and looked up to by her peers and friends for her outstanding work ethic and business morale. Her colleagues and close friends described her as a beautiful young woman who was loved and admired by all and would never be forgotten. 

The support and love Jackie had from many was simply remarkable, she had touched so many hearts and lives in her courageous battle with cancer.

Her high spirits and positive attitude reflected the strong and truly inspirational woman that she was, by putting aside her pain and suffering so as to ease the pain and emotions which those that cared so much for her were going through.

I can't think of Jackie without smiling. She was one of my favorite people. She was a darling aunt to her nieces Lisa and Emma, a great friend and companion to her extended family and an admired sister to both Lily and myself. She was - and always will be - mum and dad's favorite little girl.

Jackie in turn loved her whole family and friends dearly, in particularly her immediate family. She adored her husband Richard whom she'd met in 1990 and especially loved and adored her two gorgeous children, Jessica and Stephen.

Jackie was her children's life and love and they were Jackie's. Not only do they have Jackie's shining personality but they also have her zest for life, her mothering and caring instincts and Jackie's creativity, flair and passion.

Jackie was a powerful person. Her last few months were torturous and even as she was dying she continued to live - asking visitors about their lives, telling them about hers, laughing, crying and bossing her husband around.

Even through her battle with cancer, she made time for others. She always poured her energies into those around her, making us all better people for having known her. Jackie handled her cancer and her dying the way she handled her life - with grace, strength, intelligence, compassion, depth and love.

In preparing this article, I realized that what people loved about Jackie most was her essence, her spirit. It comforts me, and I hope it comforts those who knew her, to know that her spirit will always be with us. Jackie's spirit will be kept alive on this planet forever, through all of us, but most of all through her daughter and son.

On behalf of the entire Tulic and Cooke families, I would like to thank our families, friends and Jackie's friends for all their kind words of support. I would also like to thank the hundreds of people who gathered in memory of my sister at St George's Anglican Church in Ivanhoe and later on for her burial at Warringal Cemetary in Heidelberg.

A BIG ''thanks'' to close family and friends for helping with food and drinks, the sending of countless number of remembrance flowers and also donations to the cancer institute which were made on the day. We are deeply touched and appreciative.

Jackie was our angel! The best sister, mother, wife, daughter, relative, friend and person any of us could ever ask for! I will love her always and forever.

Rest well my dear sister, I will see you again someday!

Jackie's one month memorial mass will be held at the Croatian Catholic Church in Clifton Hill on Friday the 2nd May at 6pm for those who wish to pay their respects.