Tributes / Selkiewife Jan Bevington dies following long illness
JAN Bevington, the founder of Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary and affectionately known as Da Selkiewife, died on Sunday after a long struggle with ill health, aged 77.
Paying tribute to his wife of 28 years, husband Pete Bevington said Jan’s “devotion to wildlife and her deep integrity to her belief in the importance of nurturing nature in all its forms had a profound influence on the many people who came into contact with her”.
Announcing her death on the sanctuary’s Facebook page on Monday evening, he wrote: “Jan had always been a great lover of wildlife and nature, and when she came across a premature seal pup being washed up on the beach in Hillswick after a busy night in the pub in May 1987, she realised her true purpose in life had found her.”
She has been caring for sick and abandoned animals on the isles for almost 40 years.
When the tanker Braer run aground at the south tip off Shetland in January 1993 and the world’s press descended on the isles, Jan found herself the centre of global media attention while looking after stricken wildlife.
The couple met in the same year and married in 1996. Together they ran the sanctuary, a vegetarian café at The Booth, while Pete was also a partner in Shetland News between 2002 and 2017.
Thanks to financial assistance from the oil industry, the local council, the European LEADER Fund and the wildlife charity World Animal Protection, the couple were able to refurbish the sanctuary at Hillswick and secure its long-term future.
Pete wrote: “Construction finally began in the winter of 2020, but within weeks of work starting Jan became ill and ended up in hospital with heart problems.
“She never fully recovered her health and last year was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. Despite a huge effort to keep going, she finally passed away on Sunday night at home in the arms of her beloved husband.”
Everybody here at Shetland News would like to offer their deepest condolences to Pete’s and to Jan’s families at the loss of a truly extraordinary woman, partner and mother.
Jan spoke to our Shetland Voices producer Jane Moncrieff in August 2021. The interview can be listened to below.
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