Fewer than 20 people have been given the freedom of the city of Bath – among the big names are Nelson (1797), Churchill (1950) and Haile Selassie (1954). So when Maggie Roper, who has died aged 78, was informed that she and her husband, Brian, were to be similarly honoured in 2014, she declared: “We must be ‘the highly unlikelies’.”
Far from it. There is hardly a corner of Bath that has not been helped in some way by the Ropers. Since 1979, when they launched their Roper Rhodes bathroom accessories business in the city, the firm’s philanthropic foundation has given several millions to local charities.
Some 200 organisations have received generous donations, among them the Theatre Royal, Holburne Museum, Royal United Hospital, Bath University, Bath City College and Bath Abbey, as well as local music festivals and schools. Many smaller organisations not only received money but were given business advice on how to expand.
Typically, Maggie preferred the grants to be kept private, but many beneficiaries insisted on acknowledging the support they had received. The Ropers’ legacy is not confined only to the lucky 200. Thanks to a campaign in the local paper, Bath now has a Per Cent Club, started in their memory, which 100 firms have joined and which meets monthly to identify good local causes that deserve more support.
Maggie was born in Lewisham, south-east London, to Edith (nee Smith) and Alfred Symons. She attended a primary school in Catford and was awarded a secondary school scholarship to James Allen’s girls’ school in Dulwich. She won a place at the London School of Economics – when only 7% of entrants were women — and met Brian there. After they married in 1962, Brian worked and Maggie was a homemaker, though she taught for a short period after graduating and was a Samaritans volunteer for six years.
After Brian was made redundant in 1979, they decided to start their own business. In its early days, their office was a spare bedroom in their Bath home but it quickly took off and within a decade was employing well over 100 people, with a turnover in the millions. They forged a formidable partnership.
As well as giving away 3% of company profits through the charitable foundation, in later years Maggie and Brian gave away much of their personal wealth, too – a sum in excess of £10m. Brian died of cancer in 2014, and, months later, Maggie was diagnosed with lung cancer. The next three years required huge fortitude, courage, grit and endurance, along with good humour. Her large circle of friends and support from her two sons, Mark and Paul, and her sister, Pauline, allowed Maggie to have an active social life even after moving into a care home.
An indomitable and active Liberal, she had been a founder member of the SDP in Bath, and watched recent political developments with a sense of sadness, though she was delighted to see Bath return to the fold at the general election.
Maggie is survived by Mark, Paul, three grandchildren and Pauline.
