Page 54 - QARANC Vol 20 No 3 2023

54 The Gazette QARANC Association
OBITUARY
Ursula May Cowell TD MSc RGN
Dip of Nursing RNT
23 May 1937 – 12th August 2022
Ursula was born to Thomas Scott and Ethel May Cowell on 23rd of May 1931, an only child. Her father was a builder and her mother a hairdresser and they lived in Birkenhead, but not much is known of Ursula’s early years.
Prior to her training Ursula worked as a personal secretary for a docking company in Liverpool whilst working nights as an auxiliary nurse at Clatterbridge Hospital on the Wirral.
In September 1967 she started her State Registered Nurse (SRN) training and met Jean, Mary, Dilys and Roy, who were to become lifelong friends. As Ursula was the eldest, she mothered the group, looking after them, and lots of fun was had as well as working very hard. They organised judo sessions and were advocates for nurses’ rights and welfare. They were responsible for hoisting a doctor’s bicycle up a flagpole and another doctor’s boat in the hospital swimming pool!
Ursula and Dilys lived in a different part of the nurses’ homes so when they joined up to study and do revision, they often had to dodge the night sister and rely on an open window to get in.
After qualifying in 1970, Ursula Joined the Territorial Army 208 General Hospital in Liverpool and shortly after she was joined by Jean. They enjoyed their annual camps and visited Aldershot, Altcar, Germany and Belgium. Between 1974-1980 Ursula met and married Geoff. She was by this time the principal nursing officer at St Thomas’s Hospital.
In 1977, Ursula became godmother to Rebecca, Jean’s Daughter, and they formed a strong bond. A recent re-union with Carolynn, Mary, Jean and Dilys proved to be “just like the old times”.
Dick, a long-time friend, met Ursula at 217 General Hospital, Braganza St, Walworth, when he was Training Major and Ursula was Deputy Matron. They shared a mutual passion for training, forming an alliance to improve the unit’s military, medical and adventure training, whilst at the Nightingale School of Nursing at St Thomas’s she met up again with Carolynn and became good friends and companions.
Ursula and Carolynn became Associate Professors
...they often had to dodge the night sister and rely
on an open window to get in.
of Nursing at the Michigan State University. Carolynn bought a home in Pahrump, USA, between Death Valley and Las Vegas, whilst Ursula purchased a flat in Alcester nr Stratford upon Avon, where they would spend their summers and their winters in Pahrump.
Ursula loved to travel and would go off in her camper van on many adventures. She was an accomplished carpenter and did all the DIY around her home. She was appointed by the state onto the Standing Nursing and Midwifery Advisory Committee, 1988-1993.
As an advisor to the Chief Nursing Officer (from 1986- 1990) Ursula was involved in the Reform of Nurse Education Project.
She was a staunch Supporter of the QARANC Association, an advocate for the NHS and would contact MPs and councillors with her forthright views. It was only recently that Carolynn and Ursula decided to move back to
the UK permanently, and when Carolynn became ill, Ursula set about challenging the various departments responsible for after care on discharge and found them wanting.
It was about this time that Ursula too became unwell. Their good friend Jean stepped-in to support them, but after a short spell in hospital Ursula died peacefully on 12 August 2022.
Ursula was a wonderful person and very supportive to me during my 12+ years as Chairman of the QA Association Midland Branch. She was in the process of organising an afternoon tea in Alcester as a Branch outing and had prepared a talk for another meeting. She was involved in discussions to update the information on the QA plot at the National Memorial Arboretum.
Many branch members were privileged to attend her funeral, held on 22 September 2022 at Redditch Crematorium a very “Ursula service”. She will be much missed by all her friends and colleagues.
Rest in peace Ursula. Your life’s work is done.
Sue Reading Midland Branch