Obituary
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Mary Francis – Laboratory Technician CCHS
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Mary Francis died peacefully at her home in Stanway in February at the age of 80. She was involved with the Scouts for more than 60 years becoming a Cub Scout leader at 18 and moving to Colchester in 1969 she was Akela with the 9th Colchester Cub Pack, then with the 17th Colchester St John’s Pack for 27 years until 2007. She served for four years as the District Commissioner of Colchester East District Scouts and was a county adult leader trainer.
In 2006 May was presented with the Silver Wolf award (above left) by the Chief Scout, Peter Duncan, the highest award for an adult Scout leader given “for services of the most exceptional character”. She was just the sixth recipient and the first female to receive this award in Colchester. In 2007 she became Chairman of the Management Committee at Thorrington Scout Camp for 10 years.
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In her working life, Mary helped teachers and students as a laboratory technician at CCHS and outside Scouting she was a magistrate for more than 30 years, serving as Chairman of the Youth Bench. She was a trustee at the charity Open Road for 20 years and a keen member of Inner Wheel, an international organisation linked to Rotary. She also enjoyed volunteering at King’s Ford School, helping young people with reading.
The Colchester Gazette gave Mary with its Community Hero award, in 2015.
Despite being diagnosed with vascular dementia with Alzheimers, in 2017, she would not be deterred from enjoying watching Colchester United home games and attending U3A's ukulele group, where she sang and played percussion. She also sang in the St John the Baptist’s church choir, in Layer de la Haye.
Her family said “A loving mother of three and grandmother of 6, Mary leaves behind Michael, her devoted husband of 61 years. Known as Supergran, Akela, Glary Mary, Madam, Nee or Granny Mary, she had a positive influence on the lives of so many people through her lifetime of volunteering.
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