The legacy of a significant member of our Loreto Normanhurst community is sometimes remembered through the generous donation of an award or scholarship. The Johanna Roach Memorial Shield was established to commemorate the life of Johanna 'Jo' Roach by her Loreto cohort upon their graduation in 1998. 

Jo is remembered to the Loreto Normanhurst community for her friendliness, joyfulness and for her enjoyment of the Arts. Diagnosed with a rare form of cancer during her childhood, Jo passed away while in Year 8 at Loreto Normanhurst.

The Johanna Roach Memorial Shield is presented annually to a Year 8 student who exhibits kindness, generosity, and creative flair. The 2020 recipient of the Johanna Roach Memorial Shield was Sairsha Davies. We are honoured that the Johanna Roach Memorial Shield is often presented at our Awards Ceremony by Jo's family, including her three sisters Bernadette ('92), Mary ('94) and Dominique ('02) who have maintained strong connections with Loreto Normanhurst.

From the time of Jo's diagnosis the staff and leadership at Loreto were an enormous support to our family, despite the fact that Jo didn't attend Loreto until well into her illness... Whilst I had left Loreto the year before she started so can't speak too much about her time there, I know that she was very happy and had a good group of close friends who looked beyond her illness and made her time at Loreto fun and positive. Jo was quite artistic and also enjoyed music, hence the reference in the award note to her 'creative flair'.

Jo retained a positive outlook and other than at her most intense points of treatment, never lost her sense of humour and personable, friendly nature.

It was Jo's Year 12 cohort who set up the award before leaving the school, for which we'll always be very grateful. It's amazing to think that more than four years after Jo died, she was still so present in the hearts of her peers for them to think of gifting this award to the school in her name.

Bernadette Chang (Roach, '92)

It is a privilege to be able to celebrate Jo's continuing legacy in this way, and we are grateful to the Roach family and the Class of 1998 for their generosity. 

We deeply appreciate those community members who enrich the education of our current students and honour our Loreto history by establishing legacy gifts or awards. If you would like to donate an award in honour of a member of the Loreto Normanhurst community, please contact Ms Liane Giuliano, Director of Philanthropy and Community Engagement at lgiuliano@loretonh.nsw.edu.au