Tribute to former Mayor and Councillor Rosemary Orpin

Rosemary sadly passed away on 30th March 2020 and will be missed by many including two of our long-standing Councillors.

Rosemary, who last served on the Town Council in 2003, was twice Mayor, in 1988/9 and a decade later in 1998/9.

Town Councillor Mike Northeast reflected on his lifelong friendship with Rosemary: “Rosie was not only a colleague she was also a lifelong family friend. I had the privilege in helping her on her quest to protect local NHS services especially our Hospital. She was part of the original chain gang with Tony Squires and James Walsh who chained themselves to the railings of the old hospital protesting about its closure back in the seventies. My first involvement with Rosie’s hospital campaign was when I joined her at the High Court in London as Town Councillors when we took the then Health Authority to court to stop them again wanting to close our Hospital.”

Mike added: “Rosie had a huge heart and cared passionately about people’s health and was instrumental in setting up Linkline – a charity to provide community transport for the elderly and disabled and Littlehampton Shopmobility a local charity supplying mobility equipment for people in need. She treated everyone with the same level of care and compassion and challenged anything that dared to try and compromise that. A stalwart campaigner, we will all miss her caring for our health. Rest in peace darling no longer in pain.”

Councillor Dr James Walsh KStJ, said: “Rosemary was an enthusiast for everything that she was involved with in the community, be it the hospital campaigns, Shopmobility, or community transport. There was not a bad bone in her, and she supported individuals as much as she did her various groups. She was a tireless campaigner, and party politics meant little to her, as she saw good sense wherever it was. Sadly we are losing people like her too often now, and the town is poorer for her passing, but her legacy remains.”