Lewes grandmother ‘will be hugely missed by her family and friends’

Helen Clement died peacefully at her home in Ferrers Road, Lewes, on June 19, aged 82 years.

Her family have paid tribute to a ‘loving wife, mother and grandmother’, adding: “She will be hugely missed by her family and friends.”

Helen spent some years as chairman of the Brighton branch of Cruse Bereavement Care and more recently as chairman of the Lewes support group of St Peter & St James Hospice.

Her charitable nature also led her to help a number of disabled people and their carers and to her periodic visits to a number of those with incurable afflictions.

Helen was born in Cambridge but spent her early childhood in Pitlochry in Scotland, where the school at which her father taught was evacuated during the Second World War.

She moved to Derbyshire for a while before returning to Harston near Cambridge where a house had been built for her parents by her grandfather.

Helen went to Perse School for Girls in Cambridge, where she met Delia Venables, a longstanding resident of Lewes, before leaving for Bristol University where she studied history. That was followed by a postgraduate librarianship course at University College London and she remained in the city for some years.

A number of friends from Cambridge, Bristol and particularly London – including UCL, where she met Mike and Diana Rogers who now live in South way, Lewes – remained in contact throughout Helen’s life.

After working for an American Encyclopedia, Helen became a librarian at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research until she moved to Lewes when she married Roger, a chartered surveyor practising in the town. After a few months in Rufus Close, they moved to Ferrers Road, where they have been for 47 years.

Roger told the Express: “Helen made friends very easily, even in hospital, owing to her cheerful and friendly nature, and was reluctant to lose any of them.

“She will be sorely missed by so many people in so many different walks of life.”

Music was a lifelong interest of Helen’s. She was the viola player of a home quartet with her two younger sisters and her father – the cellist – and also sang in a number of choirs in Cambridge.

In London, she joined a string quartet which continued to play together, despite the need to travel to Canterbury or St Albans, until comparatively recently.

Singing in choirs became increasingly important, including the New London Singers, who went on a number of overseas visits, and the chorus of the Chelsea Opera Group, which was founded and originally conducted by Colin Davis – later to become Sir Colin.

This was where Helen met Roger, who used to travel to Oxford and Cambridge with a solicitor friend from Lewes who also sang in the chorus.

After moving to Lewes, Helen joined the Brighton Festival Chorus, which was still being trained by Laszlo Heltay, the internationally renowned conductor.

At that time they were the choir most used by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for many London concerts under famous conductors and for a number of recordings with Antal Dorati.

Overseas trips included performing in the Roman amphitheatre in Athens and in Belgium where they performed the Britten Requiem.

After the Brighton Festival Chorus became too much of a commitment, she joined the East Sussex Bach Choir under John Hancorn and took part in their concerts until Covid-19 put a temporary stop to that.

Reading was a passion of Helen’s and she was a member of a Lewes Book Discussion Group for many years.

Family holidays were also important to her, including trips in camper vans to northern France, and from 1987 to date, there was a trip most years to a favourite spot in Wester Ross on the west coast of Scotland.

Once Helen and Roger had both retired, just over 20 years ago, there was much more travelling, including many far flung and unusual places, but there were also very popular holidays at a number of villas with swimming pools in France, Italy and Spain, when both sons, a daughter-in-law and the three grandchildren all came together.

Helen’s funeral with immediate family only was held on July 11. A memorial service will be announced at a later date.

Any donations in her memory to the St Peter & St James Hospice are welcomed and should be sent to Grace Funeral Directors, 74 Springett Avenue, Ringmer, BN8 5QX. Alternatively, they can be made online at www.gracefuneraldirectors.co.uk.