Council legend dies aged 100
TRIBUTES have been paid to a great grandmother-ofseven and respected former councillor who died at the age of 100.
Stella Humphries MBE, also a mother-of-three and grandmother-of-six, was the president of the Hazel Grove Constituency Liberal Democrats and served as a councillor for Bredbury and Woodley for 30 years, from 1982 to 2012.
Originally a teacher, Stella and her husband Arthur settled in Bredbury in 1946. Stella stayed in the same house on Stockport Road until 2013 and said the warmth of the local people helped her to settle quickly.
She and Arthur had three children, Clive, born in 1944, Robert, in 1948, and Melissa, in 1956, and Stella started a nursery school in her home in 1959, which she ran until 1975.
Daughter Melissa Lord said: “She imparted letters and even reading in these pre-school children, but most importantly helped them be kind.”
During the war, Stella volunteered with the Red Cross and the WVS.
She collected money for Oxfam and in 1962 was chosen to travel to Sierra Leone for Oxfam to make a publicity film, Mrs Humphries Goes to Africa.
She also gave talks to women’s groups and Rotary clubs about Oxfam, volunteered in Oxfam shops, and collected for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and Leonard Cheshire Homes.
In the 1970s, Stella was elected to represent Bredbury and Romiley on Greater Manchester County Council, then went on to stand for Bredbury and Woodley on Stockport council.
Melissa said there was ‘no looking back once she was elected, she was tireless in seeking solutions for residents when problems arose’.
Coun Lisa Smart added: “Stella was an inspiration to so many of us and represented the very best of public service.
“She helped thousands of residents with their problems over her 30 years as a councillor and was a remarkable example to us all of the tremendous difference one committed person can make in their area.”
Stella retired from the council in 2012 and a party was held, attended by government ministers. She moved into a care home near Melissa in Bowden in 2013, having been widowed in 1995.
A committal will be held in the Cypress Chapel at Stockport Crematorium at 12.45pm on Friday (November 16), followed by a celebration service at St Mark’s Church, Redhouse Lane, Bredbury, at 1.30pm.