Obituary
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Shirley Stainer
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Jo Edwards writes: Miss Stainer was my L IV (Year 7) form mistress. She was delightful: kind, fun-loving and just the right person to introduce 11-year-olds to their new school. She seemed so ordinary but she certainly wasn't! It wasn't until I met her again, a few years ago, when she joined the Shrub End Townswomen's Guild Choir, singing with my mother and Marsyl, that I discovered just how much she disliked teaching at CCHS! Actually, I am not sure that she really liked teaching in schools at all. I don't think she enjoyed being told what and how to teach. She wasn't, unfortunately, with us for long, but she made a huge impression upon me in that L IV year.
The most vivid memory I have came back to me this afternoon when, at her funeral, we sang the
hymn 'Hills of the North Rejoice'. 'Shores of the utmost West, ye that have waited long, unvisited, unblest.....' Now, the family chose this hymn because Shirley had travelled widely but, for me, it had a far greater significance. Shirley was deeply religious. One afternoon, she came into registration, extremely distressed. She had discovered that a missionary she knew had been attacked and killed by the people he had gone to help. In floods of tears, she gave us the sketchy and extremely gory details she had. It was then, on a sultry summer afternoon, in deepest Lexden, that I realised that there was still a world out there that was unexplored, dangerous and uncivilised. What had always been the stuff of story books, Jules Verne, Rider Haggard etc, suddenly became very real. I will never forget that moment.
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Shirley was born in Clapham, an only child. The family moved to Hornchurch when she was very young. She loved the house and kept it long after her parents died. She attended Romford County High School and then went to Nottingham University to study Science. She was one of only 2 girls on her Physics course. She went on to qualify as a teacher. In 1960 she bought her house on Mersea Island. She joined the Staff at CCHS. But, as I mentioned earlier, she was not happy. She felt that she was needed elsewhere and, bravely, in 1963, decided to go to Africa. Here she taught in Tanganyika, Mali and Kenya. She then went to Australia and New Zealand, returning to England - and Mersea - in the mid 1970s when she worked at Stanway School. Every spare moment was spent doing something. She had boundless energy and was a great walker and cyclist. But she also involved herself deeply in Christian youth work, running Pathway and Christian Youth camps and helping with the Mersea Beach Club in the summer holidays. In the mid 80s, she left teaching, deciding to concentrate on art and writing. Anyone who received one of her incredible Christmas cards will know how clever and inventive she was. It wasn't long, however, before she decided that she needed to return to work. For some extraordinary reason, she joined the offices of London Transport, where her knowledge of a number of languages was very helpful. She joined the London Transport Choir. Shirley loved music. She was, incidentally, related to composer Sir John Stainer and 'Love Divine, All Love Excelling' was also sung at her funeral, using the familiar tune written by Sir John. She took part in the LT Christmas Concerts, arriving back at Colchester Station too late to catch her last bus to Mersea. Taxi time? No way. Shirley walked home! She wasn't always reliant on buses or bicycle. She bought herself a small car which she personalised with huge green and orange flowers and her initials, a foot high, emblazoned on the side!
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Shirley was a people person through and through. A stalwart of the Mersea Island Society, she was not afraid to state her strong views. She was forthright, feisty, funny and talented, a wonderful, independent, woman with huge faith, courage and determination. I am so pleased I knew her.
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