From a young age, my mother-in-law, Jessica Brook, who has died aged 82, knew she wanted to be a nurse, and she began her training at St George’s hospital in her native London when she was 17. In spite of her passionate vocation, she took on RAF life enthusiastically when she married David Brook five years later, wholly supporting him and finding a role in the community as an RAF wife, always making a difference wherever she could.
Family was central to her life, through her wider family, her own children, Julie and William, and later her grandchildren; her passion for people extended far beyond. She provided deep friendship, loyalty and a listening ear to a very wide range of people.
When David retired from the RAF in 1989, they moved to Broad Campden in Gloucestershire. Nursing both her own parents, Michael Lubbock, a former banker, and Diana (nee Crawley), at the end of their life inspired Jessica in a new venture: providing nursing care so as to allow people with terminal illness to die at home, surrounded by family. With encouragement from two local GPs, in 1990 she created Campden Home Nursing, a charity. Fundraising to pay nurses included sale of bread she baked, lunches at home, concerts in the school hall, auctions and donations from her talks in the area.
Within a year she had raised £3,000 and, with two other nurses, started to look after patients. Over the next 14 years, before she retired, she helped more than 380 patients to die at home, with a nursing team that eventually grew five-fold. She ran regular educational sessions to keep her nurses professionally up to date. Jessica’s work inspired the creation of three similar schemes to CHN in the area. CHN provides free nursing care at home to anyone with a terminal illness irrespective of their means.
She continued to support CHN after her retirement, including running bereavement groups. The trust is thriving and now expanding its catchment area thanks to generous support from donors; it continues to rely solely on fundraising and donations.
Jessica was much loved and respected in Chipping Campden for her compassion, generosity, keen interest in others and her rich sense of humour.
St Catherine’s, the local primary school, named a new classroom after her and CHN’s new office building will be called Jecca’s House.
Jessica is survived by David, and their children and five grandchildren, Winnie, Stella, Arthur, Meredith and Esme.
