A SAMARITAN, school governor, charity founder, MBE, and much-loved wife, mother and grandmother who served her community without question, has died.
‘A right good egg’ is how Elizabeth Spreadbury was described at her funeral, a description that is hard to deny after her lifetime of service and dedication to the people of Dorset.
Through her key roles in improving the lives of our youngest and most vulnerable residents, Elizabeth led a remarkable life where she seamlessly managed to balance the titles of mum and MBE with true grace and modesty.
Elizabeth Spreadbury was born on May 1, 1940, in Seaton, Devon, as the third of four daughters born to Elsie and Harold Austin.
Born during the Second World War, Elizabeth and her family were living in Devon when it was subjected to air raids from German bombers. In fact, on September 29, 1940, Seaton and the neighbouring Axmouth were targeted by the Luftwaffe.
After the war the family moved to Dorset where father Harold worked at Hamworthy Engineering.
Elizabeth and her sister Susan attended the St. Hilary School in Parkstone where, at the age of 13, she first set eyes on a young man named Noel Spreadbury.
The youngsters instantly hit it off and they had their first date on or around December 6, 1953, at the Regal Cinema before enjoying the evening at the Seaview viewpoint in Poole. They soon became boyfriend and girlfriend – ultimately never leaving each other’s side.
Noel left home and started teaching at a prep school in Wells, while Elizabeth got a job spraying china at Branksome China. She then became a dental nurse at Prideauxs next to Lloyds Bank in Ashley Cross.
Six years after their first day, Noel and Elizabeth became engaged in December 1959 and were married on August 6, 1960, at St Ambrose Church in Westbourne.
The pair went on to have five children: Austin, Kate, Daniel, Beth, and Sam.
After Noel got a job at Lloyds Bank they began a tour of the south, first moving to Southampton before living in Totton, Eastleigh, Wareham, Upper Parkstone, Warminster, Portland, Melksham, and Dorchester before settling in Boscombe in 1983 when the family moved to Woodford Road, along with Elizabeth’s mother who she cared for until her death in 1990.
At first, Elizabeth put her efforts into her skills as a loving mother and homemaker. However, it was upon the family’s 1983 move to Bournemouth that she was fully able to realise her burgeoning management skills.
In 1986, Elizabeth first began volunteering with Bournemouth Samaritans where she would go on to hold a range of positions – a listening volunteer, conducting school talks, shift leader, branch director among others.
Elizabeth’s soft nature and charm made her a model volunteer for Samaritans, where she was able to make a difference to hundreds of local lives in a more than 30-year association with the organisation.
Not one to sit around, education was high on Elizabeth’s list of priorities to get involved in. She duly did by becoming a governor of St Clements School in Boscombe, where three of her children attended. She later added Bethany Junior School to her growing portfolio of governorship roles.
Ultimately, Elizabeth would become Chair of Governors of both St Clements and Bethany schools and led them into the first Federation of Church Schools in the Diocese, merging the governing bodies and serving as the new Chair of Governors of both schools for around 15 years.
She also served as a governor of Bournemouth School for Girls alongside her husband.
More recently she was appointed by the Diocese to the Bishop of Winchester Academy and was vice chair at the time of her retirement in 2020.
She was a member of the Poole and Bournemouth Education Appeals Panel and the Bournemouth Local Safeguarding Children's Board.
Ever willing to increase her diverse body of work, from 2000 to 2010 she served as a Justice of the Peace, a responsibility she relished – during which time she helped to found Dorset Action Abuse which supports adult survivors of childhood abuse.
Her husband Noel, who has served as a governor of BSG for more than three decades, received an MBE in 2007 for his services to education.
Despite such dedication to making her community a better place, Elizabeth never expected anything in return. As her eldest son Austin put it: “Modest, not seeking reward or recognition, she did what she could do to help, wherever she could help. Intelligent, caring, a wonderful mother and devoted wife.”
After years of hard work, Elizabeth too finally received her moment in 2016 when she was deservedly awarded an MBE for services to her community.
Elizabeth said she was “completely gobsmacked” upon receiving the honour but, in a typical act of selflessness, added: “If it raises the profile of the organisations I work with, that would make me very happy.”
Shortly after, Elizabeth was diagnosed with dementia. Her loving husband Noel vowed to care for her at home and, with the support of their children, doctors, district nurses and Marie Curie carers, he succeeded in that promise.
Elizabeth Spreadbury died peacefully at home on Friday, May 20, 2022. She was 82 years old.
Her funeral was held at Harbour View Crematorium on Monday June 6 and was attended by 100 people.
After her passing, Noel said: “She never sought reward or recognition but just tried to work away in the background. She was intelligent, educated in the University of Life, and a wonderful wife, mother, grandma, homemaker, volunteer who just went on helping past her 80th birthday.
“Our love has continued and grown and I am happy that although I am now half the man I was, I kept my vow to love and to cherish in sickness and in health until death do us part.”
Elizabeth is survived by her husband of 61 years Noel, their five children and 11 grandchildren.
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