'He will be missed' - tributes paid to former Lewes mayor Stephen Catlin

A former town and Lewes district councillor, Stephen Alfred Wischhusen — better known to all as Catlin — died of cancer at the age of 76 on Sunday, June 4th.

Tributes were paid by current district councillors at a full council meeting on Monday (July 25th).

Speaking at the meeting, Ringmer councillor Johnny Denis said: “He spoke for his town and for his district whenever he could, so I hope those people that know him recognise all the things that he is associated with and has done.

“He will be missed, very clearly, by this community, so I just want to send commiserations to family and friends and all that knew him.”

Tributes were also paid by Stephen Gauntlett, a former Lewes District Council chairman. He said: “It is a privilege to pay tribute to Stephen Catlin on behalf of us all. One of the benefits of having been chair of [Lewes District] council is that I got to attend all sorts of civic functions and talk with fascinating people; Stephen was most definitely one of those fascinating people.

“Whenever my wife and I went to functions in Lewes (and over a three-year period that was a considerable number) I lost my wife for about 20 minutes talking to him about planting, station flowers, upkeep, love of nature, all these lovely things.

“He always was there, he was just everywhere all the time and that is a tremendous tribute for his care for Lewes. He was devoted to his community and was a fine example of that kind of councillor.”

Cllr Gauntlett added: “He was a determined, passionate, but always considerate advocate in this chamber. He will be remembered for putting others first and working tirelessly, all of that tempered by a somewhat mischievous sense of fun.”

Tributes were also paid by Cllr Janet Baah, who served with him on Lewes Town Council.

She said: “It is a great opportunity for me to be standing here talking about Catlin. When I first got elected, he held my hand and said ‘you don’t know your way around, so I can help you find your feet’ and he did. He took me through all the standing orders and said to me, ‘Cllr Baah you will do well, because I have initiated you!’

“Throughout his illness he never did miss a meeting. He chaired the planning committee really well and I learned a lot from him. For the last three weeks of his life, when he couldn’t even stand up, he was trying and struggling to come to meetings to chair the meetings.

“A lot has been said already about him, but I stand here giving tribute to the guy who really helped me survive as a councillor and who always looked around for people and helped those who needed his help most. We will greatly miss him.”

A memorial event, being organised by the Friends of Lewes as well as Catlin’s personal friends, is to be held at Lewes Town Hall on Wednesday, August 2nd. Free tickets are available online and organisers ask for those wishing to attend to get in touch so they have an idea of numbers.