Mary Dunn

Sadly I heard the news today that my former colleague Mary Dunn who was a Labour councillor in Lavender Fields between 2002 and 2006 died last night after a long illness. I had known Mary for a number of years and I know that she was a hard working councillor along with being a stalwart of the Labour party over a number of years. I always found her to have a great sense of humour and looked on the positive side of life despite her illness in recent years. During the time I was on the Council, I also discovered that like me one of her ancestors had the name Barry and had come from Courtmacsherry which is in County Cork Ireland. This is the same area in Ireland that my dad had come from and I remember talking to her about this matter on a number of occasions.

On Merton Council she served as Deputy Mayor in 2002-3 to Edith Macauley with her late husband Brian as consort. They both carried out the role with good humour and were excellent ambassadors for the Borough. Many within the Labour party and the Mitcham community will mourn her passing, she had spent all her life in Mitcham and had many friends within the local community. She also assisted a great number of people during her time as a councillor and was hard working despite the illness she suffered during her latter period as a councillor. Her passing is a sad moment for many both in the Labour party and in Mitcham.

May she rest in peace.