A former teacher at St Peter’s School in Marlborough who was an active member of the community has died at the age of 77.
Pat Emery lived in many places throughout her life but having moved to the Wiltshire town in 1969 with her husband Malcolm, it was Marlborough that she came to call home.
The schoolteacher and mum of two worked in junior schools in nearby villages such as Oare, Great Bedwyn and Burbage.
Having taken up a role as a supply teacher at St Peter’s Junior School in Marlborough, she eventually secured a full-time position and remained as a teacher there for the rest of her working life.
Pat, or Mrs Emery as she was known to her students, has been described as having a very strong work ethic and would always be working into the evenings and on weekends to ensure that she supported her students as much as she could.
“She took on numerous extracurricular activities, throwing herself into school life,” said her family members.
The beloved school teacher was also an active part of the Marlborough Labour Party and a passionate champion for CND, Greenpeace and the Anti-Apartheid movement – something she put down to her broad life experiences.
Pat was born at the Victoria Hospital in Rothesay on the Isle of Bute on June 18, 1946 to Jessie and Cecil Baird.
The Baird family grew up in South Shields, Tyneside for most of Pat’s childhood, but later moved to Chelmsford for a short time due to Cecil’s senior role in the NHS.
Pat attended Stockwell College in Bromley in 1964 to train as a teacher, and it was there that she met her future husband, Malcolm Emery.
The couple married in 1967 and settled down in Marlborough where they raised their two children, John and Tim.
But despite the quiet town life, Pat’s love of travel has never left her.
According to her family, Pat travelled to South Africa, India, St Kitts, huge areas of Europe and across the USA in her lifetime.
She was a keen lover of literature, theatre and the arts, and was particularly well known by the Marlborough community for her love of black cats and her red mini.
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