Katharine (Kay) Mitchell

Katharine Shirley Mitchell was born on 26th October 1956 in Barnehurst, Kent.  From a baby she was always known as Kay.  She lived with her parents, Lawrence (marine assurance clerk) and Shirley (primary school teacher), older brother Peter and younger sister Stephanie in Dartford, Crayford and Sidcup in north-west Kent.  After primary schools, she attended Beaverwood School in Chislehurst.  Kay did well at school, and enjoyed so many subjects that she found it hard to decide what to study at university.  In the end she settled on geography and history joint honours at Aberystwyth, University of Wales, later dropping history.  In her first year (1975–1976), she lived in Alexandra Hall on the sea front, and dried her teabags for re-use on a seaward-facing windowsill.  Kay studied Welsh in her first year (and retained an interest in languages, in later years dabbling in learning Russian, Chinese, Arabic and Greek).  She took up basketball and joined the Liberal Party.  After graduating, she studied for two years at the University of Nottingham for an M.A. in town planning.

After a junior administrative job in Bromley, Kay took up town planning positions in Eastbourne, Poole, North Shropshire District Council, and Stoke-on-Trent.  Development control became her speciality.  Kay enjoyed putting her green influence on building schemes, especially making sure that bicycle facilities were included.  Unfortunately, with the financial downturn of 2008, development slowed and eventually Kay had to retire earlier than she would have liked, aged 55.  She was an active member of the union Unison and its forerunners.

Kay had a couple of long-term boyfriends but did not marry.  She was happy to be an aunt, always remembered birthdays, and took an interest in the progress of her four nephews and one niece.  At some point in her 20s Kay acquired cats, generally having two at a time, always rescue cats, which were a great source of companionship and comfort to her.

In her 30s Kay took up triathlons, and enjoyed training and competing in clubs in Sussex and Dorset.  She also ran in 10-kilometre races and occasional duathlons.  She was never especially fast but always completed the races and was placed third in her age-group rather consistently.  One year in the early 1990s she ran the London Marathon and finished in 4 hours 6 minutes.  Once settled in Newcastle-under-Lyme she organized two badminton groups, which ran successfully for many years.  Although not of league-player standard, Kay was a good social player and adept at some crafty cross-court shots close to the net.

Kay remained a lifelong activist in the Liberal and Liberal Democrat parties and was a councillor for some years on Wealden District Council in Sussex, and for a time on Hailsham Town Council.  She frequently stood as a candidate in local elections, to maintain a LibDem presence in as many wards as possible.  In Newcastle-under-Lyme, she joined the local committee and latterly was treasurer.

Kay was always interested in environmental matters, and she took some diploma courses in nature conservation in the 1980s.  She was an early adopter of solar panels.  She walked or cycled whenever she could for shopping or visits to the local theatre or concerts, of which she was a keen supporter.  She was a long-standing member of the music appreciation group of the Workers' Educational Association at Keele University.  Holidays often comprised tours of parts of the country with sights to see, staying in Youth Hostels.  One of her interests was the Arts and Crafts movement of Victorian times, especially designs by William Morris.

When Kay moved to Newcastle-under-Lyme in 2007, she said that this would be her final home and hoped to be there for at least 30 years.  She planted fruit bushes and nut trees in the garden, maintained a pond, and generally encouraged wildlife. The garden was full of birds and insects, and frogs bred in the pond.  Kay died suddenly and unexpectedly on 7th May 2022 of a ruptured berry aneurysm in the brain.  The family and many friends are left with deep sadness at a busy life cut short—at 65—far too soon.