Former Mayor Ida Thurlby passes away
TRIBUTES have been paid following the news that former borough councillor and Mayor of Charnwood Ida Thurlby has passed away aged 81.
Ida Thurlby served for 17 years as a Charnwood Borough Councillor for the Hastings ward, from March 1986 to May 2003, and as the Mayor from 1998-1999.
She also served on a range of committees and represented the council elsewhere.
A Charnwood Borough Council spokesperson told the Echo: “We were saddened to hear of the death of former Labour Councillor, Ida Thurlby.
“Among her roles as a councillor she served on a number of committees over the years including Health and Public Scrutiny Committee, Standards Committee, Regulatory Committee and the Housing and Public Services Committee.
“She also represented the council on a number of outside bodies including John Storer House Foundation Management Committee, Loughborough Community Care Committee and the Trinity Street Centre Management Committee.”
Loughborough’s Mike Jones served as a fellow ward councillor with Ms Thurlby and remembers fondly opening the Fearon Fountain and Charnwood Museum with her and accompanying her on a twinning visit to Poland.
He told the Echo: “She was very active in the National Union of Public Employees, which became UNISON, and she was active again there.
“She was well respected in the trade union movement and also was active in the local Labour party.
“On a personal level, (wife) Marj and I feel we have lost a friend.
“We stood together on a number of occasions and we really shared the role of ward councillors. We will always be grateful to her for all the work she did on behalf of the constituents of Hastings ward.”
Leader of the borough council Labour group Coun Jewel Miah said: “I’ve known Ida for a long time, everyone used to know her. She will be sadly missed.”