I have been asked by Janet’s family (to whom our heartfelt sympathy goes) to say something about her professional life. I am going to begin, as I know she would have wanted, by saying that I am doing this on behalf of many of her current and past colleagues. She was always scrupulous in giving credit where it was due and I am indebted to many people for their contributions.

Janet’s first degree was in sociology and she then went on to specialise in medical sociology. Her first book in 1975, written while she was at the Institute of Medical Sociology at the University of Aberdeen, was based on her PhD. It is remarkable for its rave reviews. Called ‘Fertility and Deprivation’ (but retitled ‘Felicity and Desperation’ by her father) it was described as ‘One of the two or three best books ever to appear on the social determinants of fertility … And like all the best books it comes with stimulation for further enquiry’. How many other PhD students would expect such a start to an academic career? Another book ‘Identity and Stability in Marriage’ not only had excellent reviews but was the start of her long standing interest and expertise in family and marital relationships.

Janet had already developed her exceptionally clear and elegant verbal style; and many of us can instantly recognise her handwriting. This was exuberant yet disciplined – even though she did finally give up her fountain pen. Another continuing trait was that she was already riding a noticeably old-fashioned bicycle – a habit that was never to change.

Janet then moved to London and joined the Age Concern Research Unit which she helped make a highly professional organisation. Her connections with Age Concern were long lasting and she helped to set up the Age Concern Institute of Gerontology at King’s College London in 1986. After I became Director she became my Deputy and I was so pleased that she took over from me as Director in 1998. It was during her time at King’s that she produced some remarkable research including ground breaking work on dementia and studies spanning very old people, carers and people from black and ethnic minority groups.

In 2004 she joined the Picker Institute as Research Director. The tribute they have placed on their web page says it all. They say ‘She developed a research team capable of carrying out rapid action research as well as longer in depth studies’ She ‘contributed to studies related to patients' information needs, the management of residents' pain in care home settings and women's experience in relation to the safety of maternity services’. Her most significant contribution was to lead a substantial programme of enquiry into the way that doctors relate to their patients.

In her last years at the Institute of Gerontology and at the Picker Institute she gave a day a week to the Department of Health as Scientific Advisor for research on ageing and older people. In this role she provided intellectual leadership for most of the funded research and added huge value to its quality and impact. And there were many other committees and bodies that she sat on including an influential role in the setting up and support for the Pensions Policy Institute.

There are many remarkable things about Janet. One was her intellectual ability. The chapters she wrote on the sociology of old age and on methodology are clear and challenging. But at the same time she was involved in all aspects of research. She was an ace writer of research proposals, very good at fieldwork and her analysis of data was superb. She enjoyed working with others whether as the leader or as a team member.

Her writing style was the envy of many of us and she could not stand sloppiness. We all had drafts returned with her careful annotations all over the page.

Her generosity to colleagues was demonstrated when she took over the Directorship from me and encouraged me to continue to do my research; and also the sensitivity when a new Director took over from her. Less experienced staff flourished under her guidance – some are now professors themselves. Generous to a tee she gave unstintingly of her time to staff at all levels but she was particularly encouraging to new and junior members. And to her students she was the best possible tutor one could have.

Her capacity for hard work was amazing. But she was also a model of time management. If she said ‘I can give an hour’ or ‘half a day’ to something you knew that she would. And she always delivered on time. We all tried to encourage her; mainly I have to say unsuccessfully, to take holidays.

Janet was just one of the nicest, kindest people one could wish to meet and the tributes that have poured into King’s, Picker and the British Society of Gerontology are an indication of this as is the enormous turnout today. As the Picker Institute have said ‘Janet was a witty, lively, stimulating and immensely supportive colleague’. On a lighter note Janet loved gossip but rarely started any conversation herself on it.

Janet never sought public recognition of her work but some did come, though some of us think that it never matched her desert. She was increasingly recognised as an international expert on older people and for her work at the Picker Institute when she was made an Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences.

Janet’s reputation will survive not only in the legacy of what she has written and the example she has set in ethical behaviour and excellence but in the way we are all beginning to say ‘and what would Janet have done?’ I suspect that this is what we will continue to do. She will be so very much missed.

I conclude with the last two lines of a poem which was composed for her on her retirement from the Institute:

‘For there is much to do, and say, and fine things to be seen –

Before she bikes to Paradise by way of Richmond Green’.