TRIBUTES have been paid to well known local woman Maureen West, who passed away peacefully at the Millcroft Care Home in Enniskillen on Sunday.
Mrs West (née Hall) was the widow of former UUP leader and Minister of Agriculture Harry West and mother of Cllr Diana Armstrong. She was also heavily involved in both local politics and local community work herself.
A loving mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, Mrs West grew up in Enniskillen not far from the Model Primary School, where she would go on to work as a teacher. Later, she was chairwoman of the Collegiate Grammar School’s board of governors.
Mrs West was also a founding member of the Fermanagh Group of the MS Society, as well as being heavily involved in local politics.
In a heartfelt tribute to Mrs West, a spokesman for the UUP in Fermanagh said she had been “a staunch supporter and member of the Fermanagh Unionist Association,” who had been “a steadfast and loving confidant to her husband.”
“She was a loving mother, grandmother, and she was held in the highest esteem by everyone in the local community,” said the spokesman.
“She was a long-time member of the Ulster Unionist Party, who was greatly involved in many grassroots unionist movements particularly our Ulster Women’s Unionist Council and Fermanagh Women’s Committee where she served as President.
“Mrs West will be greatly missed by many and her legacy of service and devotion to her family will live on.”
Local UUP MLA Tom Elliott added his own personal tribute to Mrs West, who he knew for many years. He said she had always been “a very, very pleasant lady.”
“She was a lovely lady,” he said. “You would always have got the impression from her she didn’t have a worry or a care in the world, almost. You’d wonder how she deals with everything because you’d think she has no pressure on her.Though I’m sure she had, many a time.”
Mr Elliott said Mrs West had very much been ‘the woman behind the man’ when it came to her husband’s political career, and said her influence shouldn’t be under estimated.
“That’s sometimes what’s missing [when talking about] politics, whether it’s the man behind the woman or the woman behind the man, there is always someone else there, in most cases,” he said, noting it would be a very lonely journey without the support of family.
Mrs West is predeceased by her husband Harry and daughter Mary Lou, and is survived by her children William, Rosalind, John, Diana, Ronald, Rupert, her sister Caren in Canada, and her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Her funeral service will take place today (Wednesday) at Enniskillen Presbyterian Church, leaving the family home at 1.15pm, with burial afterwards at Breandrum Cemetery.
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