A FORMER Framlingham town council chairman and teacher has died, aged 76.Residents paid tribute to Monica Tett, who spent all her working life at Mill Grammar School and Thomas Mills High.
A FORMER Framlingham town council chairman and teacher has died, aged 76.
Residents paid tribute to Monica Tett, who spent all her working life at Mill Grammar School and Thomas Mills High. She was described as a "tremendous character".
Miss Tett, who was originally from Portsmouth in Hampshire, was a town councillor for nearly two decades, and council chairman for several years in the 1980s.
She remained single, and was active in a range of town activities throughout her life.
She joined Mills Grammar in 1946, after graduating from Leeds University. She taught biology and combined science until retiring from Thomas Mills in 1986.
Townspeople recalled how she became a leading member of the town's amateur dramatic group, FADS, and her interest in local history.
She was heavily involved in community life, and just last month she had a stall at the town craft fair selling her knitted and crocheted goods.
Long after she retired, she was still using her flower arranging skills to prepare for Thomas Mills' awards evenings and school concerts.
"The real thing about Monica was as a teacher she was one of these teachers who kids always remember," said Thomas Mills deputy head John Hibberd, a colleague of hers.
When former pupils contacted the schools, more often than not she was the first teacher they would mention, he said.
"That was Monica really. Basically because she was a tremendous character really and a very powerful sort of person, and someone you would always remember, and remember with a lot of affection."
Former town council chairman Beryl Whitehead described her as "a very friendly sort of person, a person that people approached to get things done".
Mason Fairweather, a former teaching colleague and town councillor, said she was "a good disciplinarian".
"She was very much liked in the town and of course was very active in her younger years," he said.
Another town council colleague, Michael Ashwell, also paid tribute to her.
"She's done a lot for the town. She tried very hard, and gave her best," he said.
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