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Councillor Jean Matthews has died |
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She was 71 years old and had been a Councillor since 1998. She leaves a husband and sister. Cllr Matthews has been a key member on Richmond Council and a popular ward councillor. Born in Warlingham Surrey, she grew up in Selsdon, South Croydon. She had lived in the Borough since 1951 with family connections with Hampton going back well over 100 years. She said that the area always had a very special significance for her family, with Hampton Court Palace, the river and the village having been favourite places all her life. Cllr Matthew's entire working career was spent in the public sector in the fields of Health, Social Services, and Education of Children with Special Needs, and she had an extensive knowledge of Local Government. She was elected as Councillor for the Hampton Ward in 1998 and has also served as Chairman of the Council's Social Care and Housing Scrutiny Committee, Member of Special Educational Needs Consultative Group, Governor of Hampton Junior School. Member of Management Committee of Linden Hall Day Club for older people, and Member of Management Committee of Richmond and Kingston Accessible Transport. When she stood for re-election in May 2002, Cllr Matthews said: "My original reason for seeking election was to use the experience I had gained in the public sector to give something back and I still feel the same way today. I would like to continue to serve the people of Hampton and to work to eradicate the problems they have highlighted." Cllr Matthews has been supportive of the community websites for many years. "Jean was an excellent councillor for Hampton - she was my councillor," said John Inglis, founder of the community websites. "She was always on the ball about both local issues and, in her capacity in housing and social services, on borough issues. She will be a great loss to all of us in the community. We will miss her." The funeral will be held on Thursday 26th August at 2pm at the South West Middlesex Crematorium, Hounslow Road, Hanworth. Floral tributes may be sent to the Funeral Directors (G S Keates & Co, 49 High Street, Hampton Hill), to arrive no later than 12 noon on the 26th. The family have confirmed that they would welcome donations in her memory, and have agreed that the Linden Hall Day Centre would be a worthy recipient. Anyone wishing to pay tribute in this way is invited to send a cheque, made payable to Linden Hall Day Centre, to: Jean Matthews Memorial, c/o Democratic Services, Rm 11, York House, Richmond Road, Twickenham TW1 3AA Tributes to Cllr Jean Matthews Tuesday, August 17, 2004
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Pages © 2004 Online Communities Ltd |
Councillor
Jean Matthews, local councillor for Hampton Ward and Cabinet Member
for Social Services and Housing with Richmond Council, died in the
West Middlesex Hospital on Monday 16 August during a hip replacement
operation. 
