Ann's service to be remembered

A SERVICE of thanksgiving is to be held for the life of respected politician and campaigner Ann Rodwell on Friday .

St John's Church at Felixstowe is expected to be packed for the service with family, friends and council colleagues.

Mrs Rodwell, who was chairman of Suffolk County Council, died earlier this month after a three-year battle against cancer.

She had first felt the lump in her throat during the general election campaign of 2005.

Later the discomfort increased and it became difficult to eat. Hospital tests discovered cancer of the oesophagus - which leads from the pharynx to the stomach - and a series of operations were needed

She became mayor of Felixstowe in 2006 saying: “I am clear of the cancer now but I have been told it will come back - I will have to be extremely lucky for it not to.”

Her fears were realised but despite deteriorating health, she was delighted to have the chance to become chairman of the county council and had been determined to see out her year of office.

Mrs Rodwell was one of the most experienced councillors in Suffolk - serving more than 24 years as a county councillor and before that as a Trimley parish representative.

She was also a serving town councillor, former district councillor and school governor.

She and her husband, Gordon, were well-known in the Felixstowe area as partners in a funeral directors company until the late 1980s. She then managed a branch of a national limousine hire company until her retirement in 1991.

Even in the past few months, she has attended meetings and supported projects and events, even though her cancer was causing her extreme discomfort.

She is survived by her husband, two children and four grandchildren.

The thanksgiving service will take place at 2pm at St John's Church, Orwell Road, Felixstowe, on Friday.

Pay your tribute to Ann Rodwell - Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail EveningStarLetters@eveningstar.co.uk