St Monica's School
Old Girls' Association
Obituaries
In future notices of deaths, funeral arrangements
and obituaries will be placed under the general heading Obituaries.
Please feel free to write to the
Webmaster with any memories
of people mentioned if you are happy for these to be published on the
website. Only recent obituaries will be posted here.
2025
Susette Long (Jones)
Susette Long (Jones) died on 21st September at Yeovil District Hospital. Rosemary Upshall reports that Susette was her lifelong friend from the age of eight when they met at school in Upminster. They started at St. Monica’s at the age of eleven both being in Slessor House. They left in 1957 but did return to school for a reunion when, amazingly, they wore the same dresses (but in different colours); they had not made plans to do so! Susette was Rosemary’s chief bridesmaid, then went their separate ways but always keeping in touch at Christmas and birthdays. Susette married and had four children and moved to Martock in Somerset some years ago.
Mary Greene
It is with deep regret that we inform you of the
sad and untimely death of Mary Greene our loyal and dedicated Treasurer
for many years.
Janet Phyllis Gotch (Rich)
We were sorry to hear of the death of Janet, a past
hard working Chairman of SMOGA for many years, who was in Cavell house
leaving in 1949. Janet died peacefully on 30 January 2025, aged 93,
after a short illness. She
was a devoted mother to Jennifer, Sarah and Christopher, and a much
loved grandmother and great grandmother.
Whilst at SMS Janet made many friends with whom she loyally kept
in touch during the following years. She was an active member of SMOGA,
undertaking the responsibilities of both Secretary and then Chair. You
will recall that she led from the front on the Bishop Wilson Memorial
Fund seeing it through from the many disappointments of finding a
suitable site and project, until finally the building of the Bishop’s
School in Chelmsford and the installation of a school library, working
closely with the architect, Sandy Wilson, the Bishop’s younger son.
Anyone wishing to make a donation in her memory to
the London Children’s Flower Society and Injured Jockeys Fund can do so
through ayeatmanfunerals.co.uk
Hazel Richardson (Alldis) 9th
September 1934 to 21st February 2025. Cavell house 1947
– 1952
Rosie Light writes:
Hazel was an amazing pianist and giving pleasure to
many. She went to Durham
University and then trained as a Psychotherapist.
Hazel had two sons and two grandchildren.
Sadly, in later years she had rheumatoid arthritis
and although she was always very stoical, she was in a great deal of
pain due to the damage it caused.
Rosemary Doreen Butcher (Ireson) 8th
July 1932 to 19th April 2025
From her daughter, Justin:
I’m sad to have to let you know that my dearly
beloved mother Rosemary died on Easter Saturday after a brief illness at
the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead at the age of 92. It was a
privilege to be with her through the final hours.
She lived a long, purposeful and generous life, with many
remarkable achievements and endeavours, maintaining her curiosity,
concern and loving engagement with life and her loved ones to her dying
day. Always encouraging and
interested in me and my family and all the journeys and endeavours of
our children. She loved and was
loved by many, forging a courageous path in life, enduring many
challenges and grief, and making so many remarkable connections across
so many communities of family, friends, church and work.
She was a force of nature and an inspiration to me and to many.
I will miss her so much.
But how much she has give us, and what a harvest her life
springs.
We laid my mother to rest at East Finchley Cemetry
on Tuesday 20th May in a beautiful outdoor ceremony conducted
by Dr Anders Berquist, vicar of St John’s Wood Church, of which my
mother was a faithful member for many years.
Later in the afternoon a magnificent memorial service was held at
St John’s Wood Church.
2024
Vivienne Fraser (Pyke)
We regret to announce the death of Vivienne Fraser
who died in a care home on Easter Saturday 30th March 2024. She left St
Monica's in 1948, and our condolences go to all her family and friends.
Helga Palmer (Dunn)
We were sorry to hear from Mary Easby (Ablitt) of
the death of Helga Palmer (Dunn). Helga died on 24th November
after a short illness.
Condolences are sent to her husband, son
and daughter. A private cremation has taken place.
Helga had attended the reunion in London in October. She had
been a member of Cavell House and had left St Monica's in 1955.
Helga’s daughter Sarah sent this contribution:
According to my mother’s wishes we didn’t have a
eulogy but off the top of my head this is what I can remember.
Born on 20th October 1937 my mother grew up in
Clacton, the eldest daughter of Edward and Guolaug Dunn and she had
three younger brothers.
School friends may remember that she had an Icelandic mother.
Helga attended SMS from Autumn 1949 to July 1955 and I know she
did well academically at St Monica’s, studying Latin and Modern
Languages at A Level but she always said the only sport she was good at
was the vault! Her memories
of the school were very happy, and she stayed in touch with a number of
very good friends made there.
Helga went on to study nursing and trained and
worked at the Royal Masonic Hospital in London.
She married my father Rex in 1960, he was an officer in the
Merchant Navy who went into Marine Insurance.
They originally lived in Walton on the Naze, then moved to
Danbury in Essex before retiring to North Norfolk in 2002.
My brother James was born in 1965, and I was born
in 1966. My father is now
93 and in a care home but they were married for 63 years and there are
five grandchildren. Helga
died after a very short illness from pancreatic cancer on 24th
November.
2023
Collis Linda
(Stedman)1947-2023
I’m sad to report that Linda died at home, after a
short illness.
I went to her funeral, and it was a small affair,
so I was pleased to be there, especially as I met her two children who
were eager to learn more about Linda’s life at SMS.
She was a boarder in Keller from 1958 to 1962 and
we first became friends as our desks were adjacent in Lower IV East and
our friendship lasted all her life.
I remember she hated PE and often hid in the
Pavilion to avoid cross-country runs and in our first year of A levels,
we shared zoology lessons and in later years reminisced about cutting up
dogfish that were stored in a large vat of formalin at the back of the
lab! Another highlight was
the weeklong Ecology Course at Flatford Mill, someone had smuggled in a
packet of cigarettes!
Linda left after one year in the VIth form and
started training as a nurse at St Mary’s in Paddington. She left to work
in a bank and later for TWA where she met her future husband Maurice,
who was a cameraman for ITN. She led a peripatetic existence living in
Manchester, Oman and Northern Ireland before settling in the Leighton
Buzzard area and becoming Parish Clerk in one village.
Although she was not particularly happy at school
she always enjoyed our reunions and many members will remember her
attendance at the Wallace Collection in 2022. She was great fun to be
with and had a wicked sense of humour, as well as great loyalty to her
many lifelong friends.
She leaves a son, a daughter and 2 granddaughters.
Eleanor King (Staples)
We have heard from Deborah Woodford (Ford) who
passes on this memory of Linda
"I vividly recall one of my first days; having
supper in the dining hall and sitting at the end of the table feeling
lost, unhappy and wishing I was anywhere else! Linda was sitting
to my left and asked me if I had a best friend yet? I remember
being rather taken aback and answered ‘no'. She then kindly smiled
and put her hand on my knee under the table and gently said 'I will be
your friend'. I think I just replied, 'I'll be alright thank you'.
Over many many years I have occasionally thought of
Linda and wished I had been less afraid and hoped that I didn't hurt her
feelings. I would so like it if you could convey to Linda's family
my memories of a kind young girl."
Jane Pearl (Bloxsome) 19th October 1946 – 19th
January 2024
Brenda Walker (Frost) attended Jane’s funeral and
wrote this:
Jane was in Anderson House and loved her time at
SMS, leaving in 1963 to attend Eastbourne College of Food and Fashion –
commonly known as Rannie’s, a sort of finishing school where she learned
to be a brilliant cook, amongst many other things.
She married John Pearl, a farmer in Essex and as a very competent
and fearless horsewoman set up a cross-country riding course on the
farm. She also enjoyed hunting and was often to be seen leading the
field over the hedges!
Living in Essex she kept in touch with old school friends and was a
member of SMOGA. Sadly,
John died. So, Jane sold the farm and moved to Fyfield in Essex, later
meeting Simon who was from the West Country.
Although it was soon after that, that Jane became ill, they did
marry during Covid lockdown.
Despite the many setbacks she experienced I never once saw Jane
without a smile on her face.
ALLISON Barbara Chennells 1947-2023
Brenda Walker (Frost) has been in touch to tell me
that sadly Barbara died on 28 June.
Barbara was in Keller but didn’t stay on for A
levels and left SMS in 1963.
Brenda knew Barbara as they both lived in Essex, and they met
socially from time to time.
Barbara was well known to many Old Girls living in the area.
Our condolences go to her family and friends.
GILLING Margaret (19
June 1927 - 9 MARCH 2023)
Despite the weather, Margaret had a special
farewell on the 9th March 2023.
I was pleased with how it all came together. The little old
church, the music, a neighbour playing the organ, her fellow worshippers
and fond eulogies that summed her up so well.
I attach the family eulogy. You are never
sure how accurate some of the detail is of a person's early life, so
apologies if the St Monica's details are not quite correct. We had
about 30 people attend, and it was a pleasure to meet two SMS Old Girls.
The family appreciated them turning up despite the cold and wet.
(Snow fell the next morning but did not stay). So, the Old Girls'
archive material is now in their hands, and I am emailing you separately
a photo of the garden basket we placed on Margaret's coffin in lieu of
flowers. Best wishes (Margaret’s Cousin).
Margaret’s eulogy
Margaret
was born in Little Clacton, Essex, the only child of Mildred and Gregory
Gilling.
She attended Miss
Smith’s Private School for Girls in Clacton, then St Monica’s and her
father, a WWI veteran, would drive her to school, collect her at
lunchtime and repeat in the afternoon.
In June 1940 when
Margaret was 13 years old St Monica’s was evacuated to Chagford in
Devon. Margaret relished
the freedom this gave her.
She forged lifelong friendships particularly with Elizabeth, Mary and
Maureen. Margaret
remembered celebrating VE Day on 8 May 1945 by walking to Widecombe and
drinking cider.
(In 1945, following
the end of WWII, SMS returned to Clacton where Margaret became Resident
Assistant Matron. OGs who remember Margaret, speak of her kindness and
the help she gave them whilst she was a member of staff. She was good
friends with Miss Wooller the cook both at Chagford and Clacton and
particularly enjoyed helping to run the Girl Guides with Miss Shipton.
Ed.).
For 2½ years she was
a Senior Girls Matron at a school in Malvern but left when she was asked
to take on laundry duties for no more pay.
She came home as her father was ill, then took up a Matron
position in Taunton but was very ostracised by the teaching staff who
were somewhat aloof and consequently Margaret found herself relegated to
back rooms. From her
account in the Stutton Local History Journal, life was rather tedious
and unrewarding. She moved
to East Anglia as a Matron of a junior girls’ boarding school where she
was much happier. She
recalled the week’s holiday over the Queen’s coronation.
In 1956 when she was
29 years old, she dutifully gave up paid work to return to Little
Clacton to look after her mother who had suffered a stroke and was
mostly bed-bound. Mildred
died ten years later in 1966, and her father followed in 1970.
The family owned
quite a sizeable garden and reared chickens, had fruit trees and bushes,
a greenhouse and grew vegetables.
From this she managed a small market garden business, selling
their produce at the gate.
Her father had been a Captain of the local Home Guard during WWII and a
substantial Nissan Hut built for the Home Guard remained on the property
and was used to store produce.
So, at the age of 43, without her father’s war disablement
pension and a few other small benefits, Margaret had to be resourceful
to eke out a living. She
teamed up with Frank and by all accounts they took down greenhouses.
During this time,
Margaret would take time to look after older folk in her village running
errands and ferrying them around in her car. She remembered with warmth
the times the wider family would come together, Uncles and Cousins
especially.
Margaret was a
talented needlewoman and knitter as well as a gardener and made most of
her clothes. In fact, one Christmas in the 60’s she made a whole
wardrobe for a Cindy doll with all the clothes attached to card with hat
elastic. She kept her mind sharp with puzzles and crosswords and was an
avid reader.
Church was always
important to her. She was
delighted to announce last December that it was the 80th
anniversary of her Confirmation.
Margaret as a Godmother enjoyed seeing the family and they can
remember the happy childhood times in the summer holidays when they
would stay at Little Clacton – Margaret getting down on the floor to
teach them Racing Demon, feeding the chickens and collecting eggs,
learning about nature, ice creams on the sea front and tame robins and
blackbirds who followed her down the garden.
They had no idea of the economic hardships Margaret’s family
faced, nor the severity of their Great Uncle Greg’s First World War
injuries.
When Margaret turned
60 in 1987, she could draw a pension, and her financial situation
improved. She sold her
family home in Little Clacton and bought Nutshell in Stutton.
It essentially replicated her first home.
She was not materialistic and knew the value of recycling well
before it became trendy.
Margaret did not enjoy shopping and would much prefer a countryside
view, preferably with water.
She drove long distances to favourite haunts or to meet up with
friends. Margaret even made
three trips to New Zealand to visit her family.
She was a first-class correspondent keeping in touch with
friends, old and new and relatives in America and Canada.
The family could rely on her keeping the Family Tree up to date.
She established a productive vegetable garden at Nutshell and
loved sharing her produce.
She really enjoyed digging and sawing logs, so much so that she needed
surgery for carpal tunnel problems in her wrists.
The family wishes to
acknowledge the tremendous role the neighbours and locals played in
supporting Margaret, so she could remain independent almost to the end.
Without that backup she could not have stayed on in Nutshell.
When the family
notified one group of Margaret’s death, the lady on the phone brought up
her details on the computer and said, “oh no, I remember her, I called
her Mrs Nutshell”. So,
Margaret, whether you are remembered as Margaret, Miss Gilling or Mrs
Nutshell, thank you for touching our lives and may you rest in peace
2021
Sue
Bilmes (Garner) 02.03.1949 – 01.01.2021
Sue and I joined
Anderson House in 1960 until 1966 and immediately established a lifelong
friendship. Sue attended many SMOGA reunions (until ill health in the
last few years prevented this) but she enjoyed contact with her many
friends from school days. She was always interested in literature and
worked in publishing before she and Anthony had their three boys. When
the boys were at school, she took a first degree in Modern Arts at
Kingston and then a master’s degree in English at Goldsmith’s, followed
by teacher training and a career in infant teaching. Whilst working in
Kingston upon Thames she came across Jane Seeley (nee Bushell) in the
staff room, they recognised each other and became good friends, and Jane
had been in touch with Sue quite recently.
Lunches in London,
gallery visits, walking round the gardens at RHS Wisley and visiting
National Trust properties provided a way for all her friends from
Anderson days to keep in touch and she will be sadly missed by us and by
us and her family.
Pam Priscott
(Saunders)
Veronica Susan
Fauske (Rogerson) 22.04.1934 – 17.01.2021
Christened Veronica,
but known by everyone as Susan, she attended St Monica’s and was
evacuated to Chagford, a place with which she formed a very strong bond
and where her ashes will be scattered. She loved the Devon countryside,
often exploring on foot or on horseback.
After finishing her
education, she became a dental nurse working for three dentists in
Dagenham, Romford and Manor Park and at the latter, she met Tore Fauske,
who had recently come from Norway.
Following their marriage, they had two sons and, until 1974,
lived in Chelmsford, part of a close-knit family with her parents and
sister’s family both a short drive away. Susan and sons spent many
summers on West Mersea, where her parents had a cottage and beach hut,
joined by Tore at weekends and holidays. The family then moved to
Gloucestershire, living at Brimscombe, then Eastcombe but following her
divorce, lived in South Cerney before settling back in the
Eastcombe/Chalford area among friends.
She enjoyed
travelling and went several times to the States, to South Africa to see
old friends from school, and regularly to the Continent.
She also travelled great distances here to visit her friends. She
was always very busy. As well as Dartmoor and West Mersea, Susan enjoyed
long walks on Minchinhampton Common or along the valley bottom of
Eastcombe, often accompanied by Rags, a lurcher she had rescued and
given a wonderful second life to. She died suddenly and peacefully
in hospital in Gloucester.
Chris Fauske
Anne Ellingham (Lambert) 1932 – March 2021
Anne died in early March at the age of 89. Her
father ran a garage at St.Osyth but although she was a daygirl, she was
evacuated to Chagford with the rest of the school. We think she left St.
Monica's in 1948 but do not know the House she was in. Our sympathies go
to her daughters and family.
Elizabeth M Waters
15.02.1927 – 16.03.21
Elizabeth joined St
Monica’s at Holy Street in September 1940. She was in Slessor House and
in 1944 became a school prefect. On leaving in July 1945, she attended
Homerton College, Cambridge and trained to teach. From school days where
she taught in Chagford Sunday School, she eventually became a Lay Reader
and worked in local parishes for many years. In the 1950s and 60s she
went to Sierra Leone and Nigeria to train their college students and on
returning to the UK, became headmistress of Egton School. Retiring in
1988 she continued to live in Yorkshire, moving to an Abbeyfield flat in
Castleton in 2006 until ill health in the last 6 months, when she moved
to a Care Home, dying there on March 16, 2021.
Margaret Gilling
Hilary Stannard
(Chute)
It is with sadness
that we report the death of Hilary and thank Julia Scott (Neame) and
Mary Luckie (Richey) for letting us know.
Hilary Stannard, or Miss Chute as we knew her,
taught us history and was an inspiring and delightful person. Good fun
but kind and fair with her discipline. I remember reading The Kontiki
Expedition in class with reference to travelling in ancient times. We so
enjoyed it that we made her a model of the Kontiki raft with balsa wood
and she reported that she kept it for many years! Having read Hilary’s
memories of her time at Chagford I am amazed and slightly gratified to
know that she was also naughty!
Hilary made a
significant contribution to the Old Girls Association; she was
always a great source of information for any SMS research, and it was a
joy to see her at our reunions. She
will be sorely missed by all who knew her and we send our sympathy to
her family.
Mary Catharine Parry (Arnott) 24th
August 1931 – 26th June 2019
Mary was born in Bovey Tracy.
She grew up with her brother Robert and sister Jane.
Their father was a GP who ran his practice from their home.
Much of their childhood was spent away at school but in the
holidays Mary and her siblings were looked after by their nanny, who
they adored. She loved her
spell at Holy Street Manor, Chagford, and spoke fondly of her time
there, loving the area with its beautiful surroundings, scenery and the
natural pool in which to swim nearby.
Every summer holiday the whole family would stay either with an
uncle in Scotland and/or an aunt on Dartmoor, and as a family they all
enjoyed outdoor pursuits.
Leaving school at 16 or 17, Mary’s first job was as matron in a prep
school, but she didn’t enjoy the role and returned home.
She then trained and worked as a nurse becoming a ‘St Thomas’s
Hospital Nightingale’. In
around 1951 she secured a job for a year as tutor and au pair for the
five-year-old son of the British Ambassador to Hungary, in Budapest,
before returning to nursing at St Thomas’s, during which time she met
John Parry at a dance in Totnes.
He was in the army in the Worcestershire Regiment and in May 1957
they married in Bovey Tracy church.
There followed postings to various places around the Midlands and
southern England and by 1963 they they already had four children, Guy,
Tom, Liz and Jim. Whilst
posted in Berlin in 1964 the twin sisters Susie and Gillie were born.
They moved back to John’s family home in South Devon in 1966,
staying there until they moved to Bovey Tracy in 1989/1990.
Mary’s attention was focused on raising six
children and running a house.
She managed to pursue her love of walking, especially on Dartmoor
and river and sea bathing and so many weekends they enjoyed beautiful
walks, picnics and swimming.
It was later that she found more time to pursue her watercolour
painting and attend classes and residential courses.
As the children grew up, she and John were then able to go away
on many walking holidays in Scotland and in the Alps which they both
loved, and her set of paints and brushes usually accompanied her.
As a mother she was so interested in nature and the outdoors,
gardening, reading, writing poetry, walking and hiking.
In the words of Gillie ‘she was a wonderful mother, a great
listener and had a great sense of humour and was very interested in
people (although often quite shy with people she didn’t know well).
She was very gentle and had great empathy’.
She died in June 2019 at the home of one of her daughters.