Tributes are paid to ‘a wonderful, beautiful person

Tributes have been paid to a “beautiful, devoted” Bath grandmother and church-goer who has died at the age of 85.

Mother of four Ann Craven, of Horsecombe Brow in Combe Down, had been weakened by respiratory illness and died at the Royal United Hospital last week.

Bath-born Mrs Craven was a talented amateur artist and a regular church-goer at St Andrew’s Community Church in Combe Down and also the Life Church Bath at the Forum Buildings where she had many life-long friends.

She was also a keen supporter of Singing for the Brain supported by the Alzheimer’s Society, held at the Peggy Dodd Centre, Combe Down.

Mrs Craven, whose son David was a news reporter with the Bath Chronicle, was a grandmother of six children.

David has paid tribute to a “dedicated mother” who was an exceptionally warm and friendly person.

He said: “‘Her friends knew her as very caring and understanding. To her family, she was a wonderful, beautiful person, a devoted mother and grandmother. She was fun-loving, warm and adoring of the people who were important to her.

“She was fortunate to have been supported at home over a number of years by a superb team of spe

Bath mother of four Ann Craven, pictured above, was a talented amateur artist and a regular church-goer cialist carers whose patience, grace and goodwill ensured my mum was safe and comfortable until the end. We cannot thank all of them enough.”

Long-time friend Edna Pashley, of Combe Down, said she would be sadly missed. She said: “I thought Ann one of the most interesting people and we had many talks about religion, art and books.

“We used to meet for a coffee every Tuesday morning, meeting at each other’s houses.

“Ann had a lovely disposition, very caring and had a great knowledge of the world and politics - we had some wonderful times and I thought of her as one of my dearest friends.”

Mrs Craven’s youngest son, Andrew, was a pupil at Beechen Cliff School before graduating from Kingston University as a landscape architect.

He is an internationally recognised landscape architect and lives in Chippenham with his family. Her other sons are John, who is a telecoms consultant, and James, also an acclaimed architect.

Andrew said: ‘‘My mum was blessed with an empathy and understanding for all the people in her world. She was a genuinely kind person with a fantastic sense of humour.

“Above all, her family was most important to her and she struggled on and fought hard against illness to be there for her family.’’

Mrs Craven who was educated at City of Bath Girls’ School, married RAF Dental Officer Frank Craven in 1957 after the couple met when he was stationed at Lyneham in Wiltshire.

Her husband died in 2008. She has an older sister, Ruth, who now lives in Cheshire. Mrs Craven is survived by four sons, and six grandchildren.

Her funeral took place at St Andrew’s Community Church on Monday (November 2) where a Scottish piper’s lament signalled a fond farewell.