Judy Gibson, Jack Gibson's wife dies

Supercoach and Superwoman: Jack Gibson's wife Judy dies after long illnessBy ANDREW WEBSTERLet's get the least important fact about Judy Gibson out of the way first …She hated the fur coat.Whenever we glimpse footage of the late coaching great Jack Gibson – and given the imprint he left on rugby league, that remains often – there's every chance he is filling out the kangaroo fur-coat that is as iconic as the man himself.AdvertisementThat bloody coat: Jack Gibson and the fur coat so hated by wife Judy.That bloody coat: Jack Gibson and the fur coat so hated by wife Judy.Photo: Pilani Mohan"That bloody coat," Judy said to me more than once. "It weighed a tonne. I could barely pick it up. Jack lost it in transit when we were going through LAX [Los Angeles International Airport] in the 1980s. He was very upset – but I couldn't have been happier."It's impossible to ignore the cliché: behind every great man there's an even greater woman.Judy Gibson, who passed away at the age of 82 on Sunday after a long illness, stood behind nobody. For more than 50 years, she stood alongside her famous husband. Supercoach and Superwoman.Jack passed away after a long battle with dementia at the age of 79 just hours before kick-off in the Centenary Test between the Kangaroos and New Zealand in May 2008.He was surrounded by his family, just as Judy was on Sunday.Countless people – including legions of footballers who were welcomed into the Gibson home – will carry heavy hearts this week following news of her death.I was fortunate to know her late in her life while writing Jack's biography.Hours were spent at the Gibson home in Cronulla as the family matriarch allowed me to explore every corner of her life. She didn't flinch, she never sugar-coated her responses. She just said it like it was, as she always has. As Jack always did.As those footballers who Jack brought into the family home would attest, she was also more concerned about others.Are you OK? Are you happy? How's Mum and Dad?Instead of treating the reporter in her kitchen with suspicion, she wanted to make sure I was on the right path. That says more about her than anything you might read in this column.Jack and Judy Gibson were a formidable sporting couple far removed from the present environment in which fantasy lives are played out through Instagram; in which weddings resemble something from the set of a Hollywood blockbuster; in which baby photos go to the highest bidder.They were a very public couple who lived a very private life.The one time they did step into the light came in 1988 when their eldest son, Luke, died at the age of 25 from a heroin overdose.They were still grieving when they went public on 60 Minutes and The Midday Show and in the old Mirror newspaper to send a warning about drugs while also educating about schizophrenia, which Luke had suffered from.Big Jack's legacy is there for all to see in footy, from the professionalism he introduced to coaching after a study trip to the San Francisco 49ers in the late 1960s, to his premierships as coach of Eastern Suburbs and Parramatta, to his legendary one-liners while calling Origins for Nine, to his fights with officialdom, to the kangaroo fur coat that weighed a tonne and is possibly being worn on the streets of Los Angeles right now.But Judy provided insights to Jack that nobody else could.First, Big Jack was a romantic, which you wouldn't expect from someone who worked as the muscle on the door of Thommo's two-up rings and then as a feared front-rower for Easts.Jack always worked hard to get what he wanted, and when he spotted Judy Worrad across a crowded room at the NSW Leagues Club in Phillip Street in late September in 1954, it was love at first sight.Considering Judy had recently won the Miss Pacific beauty contest two years earlier, it doesn't surprise that Jack elbowed his way through the room to get her number.When he picked her up for a date soon after, she walked out towards Jack's old black Pontiac parked on the street and noticed the car was full to the windows with flowers."From the first time I met him," she said, "he was always in my life."Judy also provided a glimpse into how much the game meant to her husband.The match that hurt Jack the most was the 1971 grand final when he was coaching St George. They lost to a star-studded Souths side and gave their all but the coach felt it was his fault."I can't believe how much I have let them down," Jack told Judy at their home that night, refusing to attend to the post-match function at St George Leagues Club.Judy convinced him to go.The abiding image I will always have of Judy, especially as I remember her today, came late in Jack's life.She had invited me to visit Jack at the Garrawarra aged-care centre in the Sutherland Shire, where the Supercoach spent the last of his days.Judy walked into the room where her husband was sitting in a blue leather chair. She kissed him on the forehead, rubbed his chest and spoke to him like they were back in the NSW Leagues Club half a century earlier.When she celebrated her 80th birthday two years ago, she was razor-sharp. She gave the impression she would live forever, just like Jack.Judy Gibson is survived by her five children, eight grandchildren and six great grandchildren. Her funeral will be held at St Aloysius Church, Cronulla, at 11am on Friday.Rest in peace, Miss Pacifichttp://m.smh.com.au/rugby-league/supercoach-and-superwoman-jack-gibsons-wife-judy-dies-after-long-illness-20160111-gm36c0.html

Replies

Kurupt January 11, 2016 at 10:02pm

RIP
sixtiesboy January 11, 2016 at 10:12pm

This is a great journalistic tribute. RIP Judy and well done Andrew Webster.
jm054 January 11, 2016 at 10:12pm

Condolences to the Gibson family. May she rest in peace.
1ee January 11, 2016 at 10:26pm

Very sad, rest in peace judy Gibson
Robert Lloyd January 11, 2016 at 10:53pm

So good. Rest in peace together.
berries January 12, 2016 at 12:14am

may your beautiful soul rest in peace Judy ..
Kramerica January 12, 2016 at 2:16am

Rest In Peace. Condolences to family and friends.
Gower Power January 12, 2016 at 6:16am

Wow, sounds like both of them had interesting and full lives.
Monster Eel #38 January 12, 2016 at 7:47am

'Waiting for Cronulla to win a trophey is like leaving the lights on for Harold Holt.- Classic. RIP Judy, may you be with Jack and watching down upon the world of Rugby League. RIP The Gibsons
Davo 'RIP feet for hands Toutai' January 12, 2016 at 7:54am

To the the family in the big white house on bass & flinders point. My condolences RIP together again.