Di James
In Memory
Former IRR volunteer Di James passed away, peacefully, on Monday 5 February 2024. Her husband, Alan, said it was her request for no fuss, funeral or flowers, and that donations to IRR in memory Di and her dogs, Penny and Dazzle would be appreciated.
Website Editor
Di joined the team as website editor in August 2008 taking over from Dave (who was temporarily standing in) and Pauline. She wrote at the time:-
She said “Hi. I’m Di and I live near Gloucester with husband Alan, daughter Hayley and our two adopted IRR dogs, Penny and Dazzle.
Since that time, sadly, both Penny and Dazzle have crossed Rainbow Bridge and Hayley has left home to live with her partner, Paul.
“In July 2007, we visited Pauline to meet her 2 foster dogs, Penny, a young Golden Retriever and Dazzle, an older Samoyed Cross, who were both looking for their forever homes. Having definitely decided to adopt Penny, Pauline proceeded to use her powers of gentle persuasion.
She pointed out one dog is never enough, having two is so much better. Also, Penny and Dazzle were great friends and what a shame it would be if they were re-homed separately so, after one brief meeting with them we succumbed very quickly to their charms. Dazzle was, after all quite outstanding in both looks and personality.
It was an early lesson that it is not wise to argue or disagree with Pauline!! and so we adopted them both.
We do of course have Pauline to thank for bringing these two lovely animals into our lives despite the fact they initially left a trail of destruction in the house but they soon (soonish) became the most wonderfully well behaved and perfect canine companions you could ever wish for (well mostly!).
My interest in IRR had grown over the months and I avidly followed the progress of every single new dog on the website so I was absolutely delighted to be asked by Pauline to become the website editor especially when she told me I would have 2 months or so to gently ease into my role which was to receive and prepare content for the website. It also meant me learning some basic computer language to actually do the uploading to the website.
In fact, it turned out to be a baptism of fire which lasted about one week and, then, she handed over the reins. I had a pretty hard act to follow but, thanks to Pauline’s ongoing mentoring and guidance, and the support of and tuition from my techie mentor, Dave Brown, I got there.
Di soon had a little helper when Penny was recruited as the Assistant Website Editor. She was always keen to improve her keyboard skills – and her posture.
I totally supported the aims of the IRR and was pleased that I could make a small contribution to their continuing success. I finally handed over the reigns in 2011 after a very enjoyable 3 years.
It broke our hearts when Dazzle went to the Bridge in 2016 and, then, Penny only a few months later in 2017 but we remain forever grateful to Pauline and IRR for allowing us to bring those two lovely animals into our lives and for giving us such wonderful, happy memories.
We also remain loyal supporters of Irish Retriever Rescue”