Gill Hamilton loses 3yr cancer battle

Gill's devoted work on behalf of the schoolchildren of Bexhill was acknowledged in May when newly-elected Town Mayor Cllr Eric Armstrong conferred on her his fellow Charter Trustees' first community award.

The Mayor summed-up feelings within the community when he told the Mayor-Making ceremony that he had known and admired Gill for 20 years.

The award recognised the work she had done for Bexhill schoolchildren with such abundant enthusiasm - and was continuing to do despite her illness.

In an occasion her friends will long remember for its poignancy, Gill spoke with pride and affection of the help she had received - and the enjoyment she had taken in the achievements of the young people of Bexhill.

The De La Warr Pavilion bandstand, which, under her leadership, local schoolchildren had helped to design, had won national acclaim.

The architect involved had paid Bexhill a sincere compliment, she said: "He had never felt such a spirit of citizenship before.

"I am so proud we achieved national acclaim."

She said the mosaic Bexhill schoolchildren designed for Bexhill station still stood unblemished as a tribute to their contribution to the community.

Gill's role in local education in providing practical challenges as a means to stimulate young minds also saw the annual electric car-building scheme into which she put so much energy.

Gill and her husband, Observer gardening correspondent Harry Hamilton, hit the headlines in 1983 when, after 18 years of marriage, Gill told Harry he was going to be a father at the age of 62.

Sixteen years of tests had dashed their hopes of ever having children.

Jemima's birth completed the couple's happiness.

News of Gill's cancer inevitably put a shadow over the family.

But Gill fought back with courage and determination.

As last Christmas approached, the intensive chemotherapy Gill was undergoing caused her hair to begin to fall.

Her response was not to hide herself away but to "go public" with a charity fund-raising campaign.

Gill had her hair cropped, the 2,000 sponsorship going to the Sarah Lee Trust at St Michael's Hospice and the Sussex Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus.

But Gill's work was not finished.

February saw a capacity audience for radio presenter John Radford's Mine's A Large One show which Gill organised at the High School in aid of the two charities.

The show was compered by Observer group editor Peter Lindsey.

To the end, Gill worked her utmost as a High School governor, forcing herself despite her increasing frailty to support school events.

High School head Mike Conn said this week: "There is now a great chasm in Bexhill with the loss of this dedicated person.

"She gave more than I have ever known anyone give.

"She was such a community-minded person. It was the community she lived for and worked for.

"Her contribution was immeasurable.

"There are so many superlatives one can think of. I will miss her.

"The school will miss her.

"The community will miss her.

"She had a finger in so many pies, both here and in Eastbourne - in fact she was a baker of many of those pies.

"With Gill it was never a question of 'if' something could be achieved but 'how' it would be achieved."