Tributes paid to former mayor of Haverhill and mayoress of St Edmundsbury, Eileen Elkins, who has died aged 95

A former mayor of Haverhill, mayoress of St Edmundsbury and county councillor has been remembered as a strong woman who always tried to stand up for the community.

The tributes to Eileen Elkins have been made after her death at her home in Gloucester – where she had lived since the autumn of 1990 - on Monday, December 11 at the age of 95.

Mrs Elkins served as the mayor of Haverhill from 1994-95 and from 1988-89 she and her husband Bill had been the mayor and mayoress of St Edmundsbury.

Bill had been a mayor of Haverhill Urban District Council before it was abolished in 1974 following a local government reform and St Edmundsbury Borough Council was created.

She had been a Suffolk county councillor before becoming a member of Haverhill Town Council in 1989 – the year in which it was created – serving as a councillor until the early 2000s.

Mrs Elkins moved to Haverhill from London in 1961 with her husband and their three sons, Billy, Kim and Paul. Daughter Dianne was born after their move to Suffolk.

Billy said of his mum, who had six grandchildren and eight great grandchildren: “She had always been interested in politics and she used to enjoy what goes with being a town councillor.

“She said we should always try and put things back into the community and that was her way of doing it.

“She did enjoy everything that went with being on a council. She used to thoroughly enjoy it, trying to make a difference, trying to stand up for the local community because obviously the town council should be standing up for the town.”

Billy, who lives in Haverhill, described his mum as a staunch Labour Party supporter and someone who loved a game of cards and many sports, including football, horse racing and snooker.

She also loved, he added, going to watch one of her grandsons, Ross Elkins, playing for Haverhill Rovers (he also played for Haverhill Borough, among others).

Mrs Elkins also worked for about 12 years in the accounts department at IFF in Haverhill and helped set up a refuge for women who were victims of domestic abuse, which at the time was a new thing, said Billy.

He added: “She was an amazing strong woman. Even the morning she died she got out of bed to get dressed, and as it turned out she couldn’t, but she wanted to get out of bed and that was her kind of attitude.”

Former mayor of Haverhill, Gerry Kiernan, who joined the town council at the same time as Mrs Elkins, said: “Council wise she was always there for advice, a very calming influence.

“We were all a bit younger and very enthusiastic but Eileen would get you thinking and would be prepared to challenge and say, ‘have you thought of this and why you are doing that’ and they are very useful things to have; someone with a sensible voice.

“My main memory of Eileen (post town council) was just bumping into her on the street and it was always great to stop and have a chat with Eileen. She always had a smile on her face.”

Mrs Elkins’ funeral will take place in Gloucester on Friday, December 29. She will be cremated and her ashes interred with her late husband in Haverhill cemetery.