A councillor and former mayor who spent her entire life helping others has died aged 94.
For Mary Fairhead OBE, there was no more important job than doing what she could to support the people in her hometown of Colchester.
Mrs Fairhead was Colchester through and through, and spent her life being a champion for the city in which she had grown up.
In fact, her daughter, Sue Bunting, remembers driving with her mother just a week before she died.
As she gazed out of the window at the city in the evening, Mrs Fairhead said: “Oh, my darling Colchester.”
Mrs Fairhead was born to parents Gwendolyn and Albert, a hay and straw merchant, on October 15, 1929. Together with her elder sister, Betty, Mrs Fairhead grew up on Roman Hill Farm in Mersea Road.
Keeping with tradition, Mrs Fairhead would go on to raise her own family on a farm in Colchester. After marrying Richard Fairhead, an Essex county councillor, the couple settled in Layer de la Haye.
In 1976, Mrs Fairhead's journey as a councillor began. She would serve for the next 25 years and was made an OBE in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace in 1990.
“She always wanted to be a councillor,” said Mrs Bunting. Since her mother’s death and the flood of tributes, Mrs Bunting said that she now realises that her mother’s entire life was given to helping others.
In 1995 and 1996, Mrs Fairhead served as mayor of Colchester. Having lost her father the previous year, Mrs Bunting stepped up to be her mother’s mayoress.
“We were the first mother-daughter mayor and mayoress in the history of Colchester,” said Mrs Bunting.
Together, she and her mother spent their time visiting people around the city, from volunteers to army veterans. It was a full-on job and went on 365 days of the year, said Mrs Bunting – but their pair never argued, and simply enjoyed spending time together.
Mrs Fairhead was also a staunch supporter of St Helena Hospice, having volunteered to be part of the appeal committee tasked with raising funds to help set up St Helena Hospice in 1980.
Mrs Fairhead passed away on May 18, aged 94.
A funeral service will take place on June 13 at St James’ Church, Church Street, Nayland, at 12pm.
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