Jennifer Saunders (nee Bush) 1933-2021

Much-loved sister of Trish White, Class of 1955 and former LEH Deputy Head, Jennifer left school from UV to go The Cripplegate Secretarial College, which was part of the same foundation as LEH.

There, in addition to secretarial skills, she spent an intensive year studying finance and accounting, drama and French and went on to be a private secretary to the Senior Director of The Thames Haven Oil Wharf Company.

Jennifer is pictured here, aged 15, wearing the stripped senior summer uniform dress.  She was musically very gifted, playing piano and teaching guitar and always had a great passion for Scottish dancing.

Jen remained life-long friends with some her former LEH classmates and a group of 15 or so of them met regularly for lunch and coffee to reminisce about school days and favourite teachers such as Miss Cross, Miss Denney and Miss Ruby Davies, who sometimes joined their gatherings.

Stella Stephens, nee Buttress, Class of 1949, first got to know Jen and Trish when they were all under the age of 10 and she used to take them to Sunday school.  She later went on attend Jen’s guitar lessons for many years, remembering that Jen was part of a band that often used to entertain residents in local care homes. “She was such a lovely lady,” says Stella. “So kind, patient and talented.”

Rosemary Burdett, nee Abbott, Class of 1950, was also a close friend having lived next door to Jen and Trish all her life until she got married. As children they were in and out of each other’s gardens all the time, playing table tennis and sneaking through the gate in the back fence. While Jen and Rosemary were in different classes at LEH, they both attended Cripplegate College together, and landed jobs in the City, where they would meet up for lunch. 

Rosemary recalls: “We were always close and always there for each other. It was a sorry day for me when she died as she had always been in my life. She will be greatly missed by all of us.”

Our thoughts are with Trish and Jennifer’s family at this sad time.