Page 67 - The Gazette Autumn 2024

The Gazette QARANC Association 67
OBITUARY
A chief nursing officer who sailed the world
Rosemary Anne Whitney (née Waldron), known as Anne, late of Greenwich and Bognor Regis, died on 15 July, aged 89.
Anne was born in Greenwich in 1934 and spent the war years in Gloucestershire. She finished her education at a convent boarding school in East Sussex.
At St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in London, she trained as a general nurse and was a staff nurse. She completed midwifery training in Woolwich and Deptford and was then a ward sister in Bournemouth. For several months Anne worked as a school nurse in Switzerland, before joining Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nurse Corps as a Commissioned Officer.
After several UK postings – during which time she obtained The Army Certificate in psychiatric nursing – she was deployed to the Far East, where she spent two happy years at a small military hospital on the edge of the jungle in North Malaya. She also had the opportunity to travel to Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Japan.
Anne finished her military service and was appointed Deputy Group Matron of the Greenwich District Hospital, followed by a post as Principal Nursing Officer on the Isle of Wight. It was during this time that she was granted study leave for a multidisciplinary Top Management Course at the Kings College Fund, London.
In 1971, she came to the Chichester Health Authority as Chief Nursing Officer, a post she held for 13 years. The Health Authority sponsored her for
She spent two happy years at
a small military hospital on the edge of the jungle in North Malaya.
an eight-week tour of America as part of the Citizen Ambassador Programme. She was also seconded to the Department of Health in London for six months to help a team of civil servants look at ways to improve the NHS. After retirement from the health service, she worked as an Independent Nursing and Management consultant.
Anne married the late John Whitney in 1979 and they lived together in Aldwick, Bognor Regis, where she stayed for 35 years. They were proud of maintaining their beautiful garden and enjoyed long walks by the sea, which was just around the corner from their home. A sociable couple, they were known for hosting friends and neighbours for their annual New Year’s Day party. They enjoyed worldwide travel together and, as active members of the Daimler Club, often toured Europe in their open-top Daimler SP250, which they adored.
Anne’s interests included her ready-made family of four step-children - John, Jane, Carol and Linda – three step-grandchildren – Rowena, Owain and Kate - and not forgetting many, many friends, who will all miss her greatly. She was also involved in the British Heart Foundation, the Bognor Heart support group, the Regis School of Music, the Bart’s Nurses League and the Q.A. Association.
She continued to travel and achieved a life-long ambition to sail around the world in 2016, the year she also had surgery for breast cancer and was diagnosed with
Parkinson’s.
True to Anne’s fighting spirit,
she stayed at home as normal for a few years after being diagnosed, before moving to Chichester’s Wellington Grange Care Home in 2022. She spent the last two years of her life under the brilliant care of the team and enjoyed the views from their lovely garden.
Anne’s funeral was due to be held at the Catholic Church of Our Lady of Sorrows on 28 August 2024, followed by the scattering of her ashes alongside her late husband John in Chichester Crematorium.
Rowena Blanchard-Heal