My mother, Patricia Sibley, who has died aged 86 of Covid-19, was an inspirational teacher who was passionate about education. A headteacher for many years, she devoted her life to teaching children with real commitment and verve.
Pat, as she liked to be called, was born and brought up in Nottingham, the second daughter of Bernard Rourke, a bus inspector, and his wife, Eileen (nee Towle), who worked for the post office. Both were Roman Catholics and Pat was educated by the Sisters of Mercy at St Catherine’s grammar school for girls in Nottingham. She was the first in her family to go to university, studying history at Durham, graduating in 1954.
That same year, she left England to become a teacher for the colonial service in Tanganyika (now Tanzania). There she met my father, Roger Sibley, a captain with the King’s African Rifles, seconded from the Royal Anglian Regiment. They married in Tabora in 1960. The following year she became headteacher of a school in Dar es Salaam where many government ministers sent their children.
Army postings followed, taking my parents with my brother, Jeremy, and then me to Northern Ireland, South Africa, Berlin and West Germany, before she resumed teaching while my father was working at the army Staff College, in Camberley, Surrey. She became the headteacher of Bristow county first school (now South Camberley primary) in 1976 and ran the school for more than 20 years.
Her school was a progressive and happy place. Pat was not only a brilliant teacher but a force to be reckoned with and inspired many of her colleagues. She was greatly respected by children, staff and families.
When my parents divorced in 1986, she turned to her faith, and on retiring from teaching in 1996 she worked as a lay minister for Our Lady Queen of Heaven church in Frimley.
Often when we walked on a shopping trip in Camberley, middle-aged men and women would surprise us, gleefully smiling and saying, “Remember me, Mrs Sibley, you taught me?” – and more often than not, she did.
She was a strong, considerate, wonderful mother who left her mark in the world. She also had a great sense of humour and laughed endlessly with us.
Pat is survived by her two sons, Jeremy and me, her grandchildren, Marta, Kai and Thomas, and her brother, Peter.
