Tributes made to dedicated special needs teacher (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Tributes made to dedicated special needs teacher

1:00pm Sunday 22nd November 2009

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A special needs teacher who played a key role in the merger of two borough schools has died.

Joan Bruce, 85, of Amhurst Gardens in Isleworth, died on October 20, leaving a son Jonathan, daughter Joanne and partner of 30 years Ken Stone.

Mrs Bruce, nee Joan Rumney, moved to the area, after being born in Hackney, when her father started work at the Pyrene factory in Great West Road. By the time of her death she was said to be concerned with all things Isleworth.

She married Donald Bruce in 1944 and worked from home producing wage sheets and calculations for several businesses while she raised her children – Jonathan, born in 1954, and Joanne, born in 1957.

She trained as a teacher at the Maria Grey College in St Margarets and worked at Syon School for Boys, where she was appointed head of first year – focusing on children with special needs and lower abilities.

She was involved in the merger of Syon and Isleworth Grammar School to become Isleworth and Syon School in 1979 and former headteacher Bob Edmonds paid tribute to her for this during a service at South West Middlesex Crematorium, in Hanworth.

Mrs Bruce, who survived three bouts of cancer, carried on teaching special needs on a one-to-one basis at home until she was 77. She helped pupils of Hounslow Manor School, St Mark’s RC Secondary School, Hounslow, and Isleworth and Syon and stayed busy until her death.

She helped at the Mulberry Centre, a drop-in centre for anyone affected by cancer at West Middlesex Hospital, as well as 1st Isleworth Guides and the scouts.

And with Mr Stone, a technology teacher at the Green School in Isleworth who ran motorcycle tuition sessions at Isleworth and Syon, she was active in various forums designed to promote and improve local health services.

Mr Stone said: “We were always involved in something, somewhere. She had enthusiasm for everything in life. Her ready smile is remembered and missed by so many.”

Donations in memory of Joan Bruce are welcome to the Mulberry Centre, West Middlesex Hospital, Twickenham Road, Isleworth TW7 6AF.

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