Camden New Journal - Obituary: Pat Nightingale

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Camden New Journal - OBITUARY
Published: 10 May 2007

Pat Nightingale

A tireless worker and always true to her political ideals

PAT Nightingale, who has died aged 59, will be remembered for her work as a Labour councillor in the 1990s.
She refused to toe the party line on many issues, and was one of a handful of councillors who voted against the closure of branch libraries during a bitter debate in the early 1990s.
Pat was born in Preston, Lancashire, in 1948. Her mother died when she was young, and her father, a journalist, brought her up. He would take her on his foreign travels as he hunted down stories and instilled in her a love of other countries and cultures.
She would go abroad as often as she could and was not one for sitting in the sun on a beach.
Instead, she would immerse herself in the place she was visiting and come away with a greater understanding of the cultures she had been exposed to.
She went to Durham University where she read medieval history – and she is remembered among her friends and comrades for her keen intellect, devouring The Guardian crossword with ease.
She loved the arts: she would go to art galleries, regularly visited the Covent Garden opera house and went to see the ballet regularly.
She loved music and before she died she worked at the home of English folk music, Cecil Sharp House, in Primrose Hill.
Pat was a keen singer herself, having perfect pitch and performing in choirs. She travelled to Vienna and Venice to sing in scratch choirs.
Pat was a member of the Labour Party, and described herself as an old style Socialist. She became disillusioned with New Labour and joined the Respect Party for a time.
She worked at King’s College and then the National Nursing Board before moving on to Cecil Sharp House.

* Pat’s funeral is being held on Monday at 11am, at Golders Green Crematorium. Music is oing to be provided by the Unity Fold Singers and all are welcome.

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I WAS much saddened to read this obituary as I knew Pat very well during some of her time at Durham University. I would add that her love of the arts encompassed poetry and the theatre.
A. Hemmings

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