Popular press officer dies
GENUINE popularity is a rare thing.
Being genuinely popular, respected, and loved by those who know and work alongside you is even rarer.
Anna Wilson, who died at the age of 51, was one of those people.
Anna was a press officer with Pembrokeshire County Council. She carried out her duties with unfailing good humour and diligence.
You discover most people’s values and attitudes through the small things they do. Anna Wilson was someone who made the small things count.
On a personal level, Anna was a delight to deal with: unfailingly polite and always ready with a wry observation. Importantly, especially for those who asked questions or requested comments, she always told you if she couldn’t get back to you by a deadline.
But she was more than just a person at the end of a phone call or an email.
When I heard of Anna’s passing over the weekend, it soon became clear that I was not alone in my shock. Councillors, former councillors, and those who knew Anna through sport and her participation in village life in Llangwm all expressed their sadness at her family’s loss and Anna’s absence from their lives.
Anna was born in 1972 and attended Sir Thomas Picton School before attending Aberystwyth University, where she studied French and Spanish.
After working in Chamonix, she taught English as a Foreign Language in the Rioja region of Spain.
In 1998, she joined The Western Telegraph as a junior reporter and later became a senior reporter. In 2002, she moved to
Radio Pembrokeshire as news editor and broadcaster before heading to the County Council in 2004 as a press officer.
By then, Anna and her then-partner (later husband) David had moved to Llangwm.
The village became the centre of her social life.
She adored Llangwm and threw herself into local life with gusto. Her two boys attended the village school, where she helped organise events. She joined the choir’ Village Voices’, performing at concerts and participating in WW1: a Village Opera, first performed in 2014 to mark the centenary of the start of the First World War. The opera went on to win a national award.
Anna was involved with the mini and junior sections of Llangwm Rugby Club, helping to organise the aftermatch food and becoming team manager for the age group that her youngest son played for.
One of her proudest days was watching her eldest son play in a youth (under18’s) final in the Principality Stadium in April 2022.
Anna was part of a book club in the Cottage Inn, though it’s fair to say that reading wasn’t always the prime motive for meeting up!
Anna was an incredible person. Always positive, there was no malice in Anna. She saw the good in people. She never criticised or spoke ill of others.
Anyone who came into contact with Anna—friends, work colleagues, or even fleeting acquaintances— was struck by her thoroughly decent and kind persona and wicked sense of humour.
She believed in dispensing with daily random acts of kindness—even if it was just letting cars out at a junction into traffic.
One day, Anna and her friend Fran were walking in the fields around Llangwm, discussing the awful plight of refugees fleeing the war in Syria who ended up in overcrowded camps in neighbouring countries. They were determined to do something.
Anna suggested holding a pop-up cafe in the village hall to raise money for the refugees. With the help of other friends, the cafe was a huge success and raised a considerable amount of money.
The pop-up cafes became a regular feature of village life, raising thousands of pounds for various charities, some local and some far afield.
Anna was also daring and adventurous.
Anna wanted to see things and go places and always challenged herself. She never settled for the status quo. She was inquisitive. A great writer, Anna was working on a children’s novel that was clever and beautiful, much like the author. She was also an incredibly humble person who was ill at ease when praised.
Most of all, she was full of love, especially for her two boys.
Anna Wilson will be keenly missed.
Anna was the daughter of Eric & Caroline Smith and the older sister of Anthony.
She was brought up in the countryside, which she loved, just outside Haverfordwest and went to Prendergast Infants/Juniors Welsh unit.
When she was six, Grampies gave her her first piano, delivered in a horsebox. She went on to have lessons with Shirley Williams and Seimon Morris (to 7th grade).
Anna loved ballet and Guides and having fun with her cousins and friends, not forgetting Spike the dog(a cocker spaniel) and numerous cats. She also loved spending time with her beloved grandparents and Anthony.