Barnett family honours loved wife and mum
Jodi Barnett was described as “utterly incomparable” by her family as she was farewelled at a funeral service in Christchurch yesterday.
Barnett died peacefully at her Christchurch home early on Monday — with her husband Simon Barnett and family at her side — after a five-and-a-half-year battle with brain cancer.
The 61-year-old wife, mother and grandmother had undergone four brain surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation treatment since April
2018, when she suffered a seizure out of the blue at the couple’s home.
Her fourth and most recent surgery was in January.
Simon Barnett — a prominent TV host and broadcaster with Newstalk ZB — told those gathered at St Andrew’s College Centennial Chapel he didn’t know how he and his daughters would cope with the loss of Jodi.
The couple have been married
32 years and have four daughters and three grandchildren.
Barnett firstly apologised if he sounded mechanical before giving a heartfelt and eloquent tribute.
Many in the congregation were in tears.
“I do not know how I will cope. I don’t know how my girls will cope.
“From here on, my life will be lesser. I’m confident there will be times of joy, but everything from this moment forward will be without my Jodi.
“Jodi is completely and utterly incomparable.”
He had mourners laughing
From here on, my life will be lesser. I’m confident there will be times of joy, but everything from this moment forward will be without my Jodi.
Simon Barnett
between the tears when he relayed the day Jodi accidentally crashed into his brand-new car not once but twice outside their house.
The girls — Samantha, Sophie, Bella, and Lilly — each spoke of their beloved mum who encouraged them in their studies.
They would never forget the soundtrack of their early years in the car to school: maths timetables.
On one occasion one of them wrote excitedly in the diary of a weekend outing — they had bought a dictionary.
“Just remember girls, you’re A-sians not B-sians,” Jodi would say to them, reflecting her Chinese heritage and focus on educational achievement.
Bella said young women in movies often reflected negatively about “turning into their mothers”. But she couldn’t wait to be like her mother, saying she would be proud.
“I can’t tell you how much I’m going to miss you, tucked in safe under your arm as your little girl,” Bella said.
“You spent years feeding me, braiding my hair and showering me . . . it’s not very often children get to return that favour and I am so, so privileged to have been able to spend the past few months sharing those special moments with you.”