Family pay tribute to former Burgess Hill Town Council leader and community stalwart Pru Moore who died after a brave battle with cancer

The well-known community stalwart died on November 25, 2022, aged 78, at St Peter & St James’ Hospice after a brave 40-month battle with cancer.

Pru, who had lived in the town since her birth on November 21, 1944, was a member of Burgess Hill Horticultural Society and the Conservative Club, as well as a patron of St Andrews Cricket Club. She also worked as a Mid Sussex District Councillor, which included time as a cabinet member.

The family said: “Dear Pru, we all have so many wonderful memories of you, from group recollections of countless family gatherings that you were central to, but also those personal ones from the individual moments that each of us shared with you over the years. You asked us all to get on with our lives once you were gone. It will be tough but having so many treasured memories of you will make the journey easier.

“We all want to say a massive ‘thank you’ for everything that you did for us and for all the sacrifices that you made over the years for the good of the family. Thank you for always being there whenever we needed your help, and even for those times we maybe thought we didn’t, but you would give us the straight talking advice we needed to keep us on the right path.

“We are heartbroken but also know it was your time to go. You are leaving a huge void, not just in our lives but also in the local community that you called home for so long and did so much for. Missing you everyday. All our love forever and always X.”

Pru is survived by her husband Les Moore, who she married in 2004, as well as three children, three step-children, eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

In the 1970s Pru ran a nursery, selling produce and flowers. In the 1980s she managed a betting shop and became the manager of the floral department at Tesco in Crawley. In the 1990s, until her retirement in 2004, she became head of care at Mary Hare School for deaf children in Newbury after it was merged with the Cuckfield location.

The family said one of her achievements as a councillor was getting the large gas holder ‘eyesore’ demolished on Leylands Road, which took 8.5 years. She also played a pivotal role in raising £4m for cleaning up the site for commercial redevelopment and helped get Lidl onto the site. Pru also helped found the Mid Sussex Marathon with Mid Sussex MP Mims Davis and arranged funding that allowed upgrades to the circuit and facilities at the Burgess Hill BMX track.

The family said Pru was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in 2019 and the doctors gave her 18 months to live. But Pru ‘battled on with her characteristic determination’ and went through several rounds of treatments.

They said: “Pru’s total dedication to helping others included keeping an eye on numerous ‘vulnerable’ residents on her patch (well beyond her years on the council) and she did this even as her health declined and up to the week before she went into the Hospice.”