|
|
 |
| |
Teacher, activist and free spirit
RITA Davies, a former teacher at Christchurch Primary in Hampstead, has died just a few weeks before her 81st birthday.
Rita grew up in Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire, on the other side of the moor from Brontë country in Haworth, and the free spirit of the Brontës seemed to stay with her all her life.
The much-loved, Labour Party supporter and community activist from Garnett Road, Hampstead, was never afraid to march to her own drum. She raised her two sons, Shaun and Robin, as vegetarian long before it was considered fashionable and taught them “socialist” Monopoly.
As a teacher, first at Robins Field School, St John’s Wood and then at Christchurch, she delighted in taking her pupils to the Heath for regular nature trips, sharing with them her passion for the outdoors.
In later years, especially following the death of her beloved husband Guy in 2000, Rita, always a spiritual seeker, was a devotee of Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, an Indian guru and proponent of self-realisation through (Sahaja) yoga.
She became a mother-figure to many of her younger fellow devotees, keeping an open house and attending regular meetings at Hampstead Community Centre, armed with vast plates
of food.
More than anything, Rita had a gift for friendship.
About 100 mourners packed her funeral service at Golders Green Crematorium last week when – in a typically eclectic tribute – Swing Low, Sweet Chariot shared the programme with the Beatles’ All You Need is Love.
According to Shaun, who paid tribute to his mother at the service, Rita remained active right to the end of her life. In the week before she went into hospital, she played the role of a pensioner for a public safety project and was organising her neighbourhood watch until just a few weeks ago.
“We are all here to say goodbye to Rita but also to celebrate her life and the fact that we knew her,” Shaun told mourners. “Her circle of friends was more extensive than anyone I know and she brought tremendous energy, enthusiasm and generosity to everything she was involved in.”
SUNITA RAPPAI |
| |
|
 |
|
|
|
