Tributes paid to long-serving Harrogate Grammar School teacher

Miss Williams spent 36 years teaching at the school and also acting as a tireless supporter of the school’s charity work, as well as helping the Harrogate Child Contact Centre.

As well as teaching in England, Miss Williams’ work also took her to Nigeria in 1964 for two years before returning to the same school two years later for more than four years.

Miss Williams spent seven years at the Grammar School after joining in 1974 before again taking her skills abroad to work at a school in Papua New Guinea for four years.

The school’s Headteacher, Richard Sheriff, described Miss Williams’ diaries of her experiences teaching abroad as a ‘glimpse into her exciting and quite extraordinary life.’

He said: “I had the privilege of spending time with Miss Williams over recent weeks and had a glimpse into her exciting and quite extraordinary life through reading her diaries of her time in Papua New Guinea.

“As I read, Miss Williams added to the detailed accounts she had made at the time, her memory incredible and her affection for people and places undimmed by the passage of time.”

Heartfelt messages have been left on the school’s website including from a former pupil, who said: ‘A remarkable life, lived by a remarkable woman. R.I.P and thank you for everything’.

Miss Williams’ funeral will take place on Monday, January 19 with a short service at the Stonefall Crematorium at 12.20pm, followed by a remembrance service at 4.00pm at the United Reformed Church next to West Park.

Miss Williams asked for anyone who wished to make a donation, to donate to the Harrogate Homeless Project.