|
MEDIA RELEASE
Issued: December 19, 2016
MP pays tribute to "wonderful lady"
Epping Forest MP Eleanor Laing has paid tribute to former Theydon Bois district and parish councillor Joy Wainwright who has died aged 98.
Mrs Wainwright, who died on December 1, became a councillor for the former Epping and Ongar Rural District Council in 1967 and was elected to Epping Forest District Council in 1974, serving until 1990.
She was also a parish councillor in Theydon Bois from 1967 until 1994.
With her late husband, Ken, she established a bowls club in the village for the over-60s and also started a weekly luncheon club for the house-bound.
In 1989 Mrs Wainwright launched a children's playground in the village. She also campaigned for Essex County Council to re-open the youth club, and found people to run it, and organised Meals on Wheels in Theydon Bois for 23 years.
Mrs Wainwright was also president of the Ongar and Villages Senior Citizens' Association and organised the annual gardens open day and helped raise over £12,000 for the village hall.
Among her other interests in the village, Mrs Wainwright was a member of the Theydon Bois Singers, the WI and the music society.
Mrs Laing said: "I visited Joy a few months ago and she was still on fine form, enjoying life to the full in her lovely care home.
"She told me then about being born on Armistice Day, which is why she was called 'Joy'.
"She was a wonderful lady, always kind, always elegant."
Mrs Laing added: "She did so much for the village of Theydon Bois. I will never forget her making me slide down the children’s slide to perform the official opening of the playground.
"She had worked tirelessly for years to complete that project and she was rightly proud of it.
"We will all miss Joy but will also rejoice that she had such a long life well-lived.”
A memorial gathering for Mrs Wainwright will take place at Theydon Bois Village Hall, Coppice Row, Theydon Bois, at 2pm on Wednesday (December 21).
All are welcome to attend.
|
