Farewell to a good person (From Stroud News and Journal)

Farewell to a good person

THE premature death of former Stroud journalist Sue Cogzell has devastated her friends in the Five Valleys.

Sue died on May 6 after falling down stairs at her home at Glossop in Derbyshire.

She had left Stroud three years ago to be closer to her only son Nick and his family who live in Manchester.

Sue spent her childhood in Kenya, coming to Stroud in the late 1960s. She lived at Chalford, The Leazes and Stone Manor before moving to Uplands, where she lived for almost 20 years.

She worked on the Stroud News and Journal as a reporter/sub editor with both the late Jack Sollars and Dennis Mason, who at the weekend.

Sue later spent a short spell on the SNJ's sister paper in Cirencester, the Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard, before becoming a sub editor on the Gloucester Citizen. She was then a sub editor with the Evening Advertiser in Swindon until her retirement five years ago.

In typical Cogzell fashion, Sue still refused to "put her feet up" and got herself a part-time job as a care assistant.

After Nick's marriage to Gina and the subsequent birth of a grand-daughter, Sue decided to move north in order to be near them. Throughout her years in Stroud, Sue enjoyed a busy and active life and was well-known throughout the Valleys.

For many years she was a member of Stroud Methodist Church and trained to become a Local Preacher. Although for various reasons she eventually left the Church, she never lost her faith and was very drawn to the Quaker movement, occasionally attending meetings in Nailsworth.

Sue was also a great fan of the arts and regularly attended talks, shows and exhibitions. She was a founder member of a small book group, which met in friends' homes on a regular basis.

In recent years she "discovered" poetry and particularly admired Wotton-based poet U A Fanthorpe.

Sue was a wonderful person to have as a friend. She was caring and considerate and was always willing to offer a listening ear without being judgmental. She was also witty, amusing and great fun to be with. For her Stroud friends, still reeling from the shock of her sudden death, life is the poorer for her passing.