By Ann Ruck
Jacqueline Bécu, along with Mary Churchward, were inaugural French class leaders which, at that time, were French culture and conversation classes which started in 1990. They instilled a passion for all things French in their students.
When I first joined U3A in 1998, I enrolled for a couple of classes in an old house in Central Road. One of them was Jacqueline’s French class. She also led a Tai Chi class. It was, and still is, such a popular language choice for many mature-aged students and it wasn’t long before more classes were needed, and Jacqueline and Mary took on extra classes and recruited new leaders from amongst their students.
Fond memories of U3A French activities
In the early days, as well as her weekly class, Jacqueline and Mary organised an annual leaders weekend away at Marysville. They also initiated a Bastille Day lunch at a local French restaurant for the ever-increasing class participants, and did French song recitals and poetry readings. For the U3A Nunawading Silver Jubilee in September 2015, they encouraged all the other leaders of French classes to participate in a cultural French Day which was a great deal of fun.
In addition, we went to performances of the Melbourne French Theatre Company and screenings of films at Balwyn Cinema during the Alliance Française film festival. These have become part of our ‘newer’ leaders’ traditions as fresh leaders volunteered to take classes. Jacqueline received the Deakin Community Award in 2016 for her service to the community.
Jacqueline’s Legacy
Today the French faculty is thriving. We owe Jacqueline a debt of gratitude.
VALE Jacqueline Bécu 15/11/1930 – 30/06/2023
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