Jeanne was born in Streatham, South London. Her family was not without problems. Her older sister, Phyllis, suffered from polio all her life and her mother died from cancer when Jeanne was in her teens. Jeanne too was almost totally blind as the result of an unsuccessful operation to correct her line of vision.
She married Thomas Magee and they moved to Woodley in the sixties before coming, in 1976, to Scots Drive in Wokingham. Soon afterwards she entered local politics on the basis that if you live in a community you have to help that community.
Her first fund-raising event was the Wings Appeal which took place when she was twelve. To commemorate her mayoral term Jeanne made two awards. The first was a pewter plate to the Mayor’s Own Troop, the 3rd Wokingham Scouts, to be awarded as a prize for achievement. The plate was first awarded to 12-year-old Russell Appleford. The second award, a silver plate, was given to St. Theresa’s School in Easthampstead Road.
Jeanne also presented two Nimbus beds to bring relief of bed sores to terminally ill patients as her selected charity for the year. She also raised £10K by organizing a firework display, a charity band concert and a special performance at Wokingham Theatre.
Wokingham Town Museum Unique Identifier: WTH0080