Death of devoted Romsey health charity volunteer Elaine Grainger

ROMSEY has lost a popular and respected member of the community. Elaine Grainger died  peacefully  in hospital on October 5 aged 76, having suffered ill-health for several months.

Elaine and her husband, Paul, were born in Rotherham in Yorkshire.  After marrying in 1968 they moved to Romsey in 1970 where their two oldest sons  Mark and Ian, were born. In 1987, on a holiday in Spain with friends, youngest son, Ian aged 12, was tragically killed in an accident. Despite their own overwhelming grief the couple became members of a charity, Compassionate Friends which offered support to bereaved parents, channelling their own deep suffering into working to help others. In 1990 they adopted a baby boy, Stephan, who brought much joy to them their family and friends, and who made their family complete again.

When her oldest two children were at school Elaine re-trained in IT, having been a secretary before that. She was successful and quickly rose to become a director of the first firm she worked for. Later she started her own IT business – a partnership- in which she was similarly successful and well-regarded by both her employees and clients.   

Upon retirement she wasted no time in becoming involved in several charities. She carried out community work such as Meals on Wheels for the WRVS  for several years, becoming a friend to the regulars on her round. When Jane Scarth House Cancer centre in Romsey was at risk of closing down as outside funding became an issue, she served as a trustee and also became part of the strong and determined  team of volunteers who raised funds and have turned it into the thriving community hub it is today. She planned, fund-raised, cajoled and persuaded  businesses and individuals to get involved and support the charity,  helping in the shop too when they were short-handed. As if her time was not taken up enough already, she was involved with Romsey Hospital League of Friends, serving on the committee, taking over running the rota for patients’ teas before again becoming a trustee and later chairman. In that role she suggested the provision of a much-needed further staff car park at the hospital to ease the severe parking problems, which were causing concern to the hospital and nearby residents. She devoted herself to heading up the team which delivered this much-needed resource, taking a whole year to come to fruition. In the autumn of 2023 the efforts culminated in that car park being opened by Countess Mountbatten, patron of the League of Friends. She was  also an active member of the charitable group, The Inner Wheel Club of Romsey , which is part of the Rotary movement, serving as chairman twice over the years. She continued to contribute to the community until, sadly she was taken ill at the beginning of March 2024. With a terrible irony, in the light of her  tireless support for a local cancer charity and the fact she was a non-smoker, she was diagnosed with lung cancer which caused her death.

Life was not all duty and service for Elaine. Family time was always precious to her. She loved entertaining and having fun. Always the first on the dancefloor at social events, a great hostess with lots of friends. She loved  tennis,  playing every week at Hursley and also Compton Tennis Club again taking an active role and serving as chairman there for a time. She learned to scuba dive. She swam regularly.  Until she had some problems with her knees she skied every winter. She travelled to Florida twice a year to visit her son Mark and two grandchildren who live near Miami and enjoyed having family time in the sunshine. She was adventurous, and in her late sixties and early seventies she and Paul did four long cycling trips;  Le Havre to Monte Carlo then Athens to Monte Carlo. Next came Bucharest to Le Havre,  and finally in 2023 Santander to Madrid.  The bike rides raised funds for Jane Scarth House.

She was a vibrant, energetic and much-loved wife, mother and friend. She will be sadly missed by all who knew her. Her funeral will take place at 11am on Wednesday October 30 at Romsey Abbey. All are welcome.  She loved colour so please do not wear black.