Former Worcester Mayoress Jane Tibbutt dies, aged 80
Former Worcester Mayoress Jane Tibbutt has died aged 80, with her husband describing her as his “rock”.
She was the wife of Dr David Tibbutt, a former Worcester city councillor and St Peter’s parish councillor, who was the city’s Mayor in 2011-12.
During her working life Mrs Tibbutt was a State Registered Nurse and also trained in orthopaedics at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Oxford, where she became a Sister.
She also qualified as a Midwife in London.
Mrs Tibbutt was born on the Isle of Wight into an RAF family.
Her father, Air Vice Marshall Sir George Harvey, made major contributions in the RAF during the Second World War, especially in the Middle East and Iraq.
She met Dr Tibbutt in 1959 when he was a nursing assistant in the Tunbridge Wells Kent & Sussex Hospital.
They kept in touch by letter and “letter tape records” when Dr Tibbutt went to Uganda in 1965 before he returned the following year.
They were married in Oxfordshire in 1966 while Dr Tibbutt was still a medical student.
Mrs Tibbutt supported her husband while he completed his medical training in Oxford, qualifying in 1967.
She would be alone for days as Dr Tibbutt worked many long hours, especially on the Oxford Kidney Unit.
They came to Worcester in 1976 where Dr Tibbutt was appointed Consultant Physician.
The couple have two sons, one of whom has haemophilia. Mrs Tibbutt pushed him to and from school in a wheelchair up and down London Road each day despite her having rheumatoid arthritis.
She had been a member of the Haemophilia Society for many decades. At her funeral there will be only family flowers and any donations would be gratefully received by the Haemophilia Society.
The couple retired from medicine in the UK in 1998 and went to Uganda to work for the Ministry of Health in the Continuing Medical Education programme with the support of the Tropical Health and Education Trust.
That involved visiting almost all the hospitals and health centres for teaching sessions and ward rounds, travelling by Land Rover, with Mrs Tibbutt keeping the records.
In 2000 there was an attempt on their lives but they escaped and rapidly returned to the UK.
They returned to Uganda frequently over the next few years, however, including several spells of ward work in a Catholic Mission Hospital called Kitovu in Masaka.
They also made visits to Rwanda from 2007 with the Umubano programme.
The couple celebrated their golden wedding in 2016.
Mrs Tibbutt was a member of Whittington Parochial Church Council.
Dr Tibbutt said: “She was a wonderful wife, friend, mother, grandmother.
“She never complained, in spite of many difficulties - everyone else’s problems were always worse than hers.”
He described her as “a stoic to the end”, adding that he and their sons, Mark and William, were with her when she died.
Dr Tibbutt and his family sent their “special thanks” to the Acute Stroke Unit at Worcestershire Royal Hospital.
He said: “The care on that ward is an example to others - the staff there should be proud of themselves and we should be proud of them.”
The link to the justgiving page for donations to the Haemophilia Society is https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jane-tibbutt
Photo caption: Jane Tibbutt with Dr David Tibbutt.
