Tributes paid to Littlehampton councillor who was a ‘tireless campaigner’

Tributes have been paid to a two-time mayor of Littlehampton who has died.
Rosemary Orpin, pictured second from left, at a police cheque presentation to the Meadview Centre in 2011Rosemary Orpin, pictured second from left, at a police cheque presentation to the Meadview Centre in 2011
Rosemary Orpin, pictured second from left, at a police cheque presentation to the Meadview Centre in 2011

Rosemary Orpin-Jackson passed away peacefully on March 30, aged 78.

A two-time mayor of Littlehampton, the town councillor’s memory was honoured by her former colleagues.

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Town councillor Mike Northeast said: “Rosie was not only a colleague she was also a life long family friend.”

He said he had the ‘privilege of helping her in her quest to protect local NHS services’, particuarly Littlehampton Hospital. According to Mike, she was part of the original chain gang with councillors Tony Squires and James Walsh who chained themselves to the railings of the old hospital protesting about its closure in the seventies.

He said: “After persuading Rosie to leave the Conservatives and join the local Labour Party, my first involvement with Rosie’s hospital campaign was when I joined her at the High Court in London as town councillors when we took the then-health authority to court to try stop them from yet again wanting to close our hospital.”

He also recalled a feature they did for this paper, visiting the Odium community hospital with the editor and a photographer to get advice on how we as a town could run our own hospital.

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He said: “She had a huge heart and cared passionately about people’s well-being and was instrumental in setting up Linkline, a charity to provide community transport for the elderly and disabled and also Littlehampton Shopmobility, a local charity supplying mobility equipment for people in need.

“She treated everyone with the same level of care and compassion and challenged anything that dared to try and compromise that. A stalwart campaigner, we will all miss her caring attitude for the health of our town.”

In a tribute from Littlehampton Town Council, councillor James Walsh said: “There was not a bad bone in her, and she supported individuals as much as she did her various groups.

“She was a tireless campaigner, and party politics meant little to her, as she saw good sense wherever it was.”

A private family funeral was held but a memorial ceremony will take place later in the year.

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