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19 December 1946 – 19 November 2024
A legend’, ‘an icon’ and ‘irreplaceable’ were a few of the hundreds of heartfelt tributes paid to one of New Zealand’s most accomplished and respected squash players, coaches and administrators, Kaye Jackson, of Snells Beach, who died on November 19, aged 77.
Kaye was a cornerstone of the squash community at a national, regional and local level, not least in Mahurangi, where she was one of the driving forces behind the Warkworth Rackets tennis and squash club, which she joined after moving to Snells in 2011.
She was a consummate multi-tasker, taking on the role not only of club president from 2014 to 2020, but also as coach, club captain, bar manager and tournament organiser. She was also a prime mover in getting Warkworth’s third squash court built in 2013.
Born in Essendon, Melbourne in 1946, Kaye was the youngest of Bertram and Nellie Hosking’s
five children.
She enjoyed playing tennis from a young age but it was only when she came to New Zealand on a working holiday in 1966 that she was introduced to squash. After playing and winning her first tournament at Royal Oak, she was hooked and played competitively for the rest of her life, as well as working in the sport in a number of roles, including manager, statistician, development officer and referee.
Kaye served on many committees and won countless tournaments, trophies and awards, such as 16 NZ, two Australian and two World Masters, several Sport Auckland awards, a Squash NZ merit award, life membership of Squash Auckland and a place on the World Squash Roll of Honour.
She was known throughout the squash world and further afield for her dedication, enthusiasm and, perhaps most of all, a wicked sense of humour, something which her family said she maintained until the end.
They said Kaye loved to have a good time and was always ready to laugh, and although she ate healthily and never drank or smoked, she did have a sweet tooth, often hiding little stashes of chocolate and lollies around the house.
She loved travelling, whether it was for squash, with family or by herself, and adventures included Africa, Bali, Canada, Fiji, Japan, the UK and the United States, though sometimes she may have been a little over-adventurous, with a couple of near-misses while white water rafting in Africa and long-distance biking in the South Island.
Kaye was happiest when surrounded by family and was always very active in her children and eight grandchildren’s lives, from picking them up after school to watching them play sport, take part in drama, or just popping in to see them.
Somehow she also found the time to volunteer, from doing meals on wheels when she was younger to knitting and crocheting many clothes and blankets for charity.
Kaye was always fit, athletic and busy. As well as the almost constant squash and tennis, she did pilates, weight training and walking, all of which she carried on with until she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer eight weeks before her death.
Competitive to the end – she was apparently very happy that she won her final game of squash, just seven weeks before she died – Kaye also remained down to earth and pragmatic, telling her family she had done everything she wanted to do in her life.
As she said in a Squash Auckland questionnaire two years ago, when asked what she had wanted to be as a child, “I don’t think I had any great aspirations other than having a good life … And I have had a happy life.”
Kaye leaves four children, Brandon, Wade, Narelle and Roxanne, their partners George, Evie, Iain and Matt, and grandchildren Isla, Gage, Joia, Sabina, Axel, Gus, Eli and Ruby. A memorial service was due to be held at Warkworth Rackets on Sunday, December 8.
