Kathleen Grimwood

A SUFFOLK woman who was thought to be the 10th oldest person in Britain will have her funeral service in a redundant church that was once central to her family life.

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Sudbury stalwart Kathleen Grimwood, who died on January 25 at the age of 110, had a final wish for a funeral in the town’s St Peter’s Church.

The Churches Conservation Trust, which owns the building, has granted permission for a family service to take place there at 11am on Tuesday, February 14. Kathleen will be buried in Sudbury Cemetery alongside her twin sister Gertrude, who died in 1992.

A service celebrating Kathleen’s life, with an address by close family friend Lord Andrew Phillips, will take place in St Gregory’s Church at 2pm.

Although she lived at The Croft, as did her parents and grandparents before her, the area used to be part of St Peter’s parish, and the family worshipped there. Her parents were married at St Peter’s, and Kathleen and her four siblings were all baptised there.

In recent years she became a regular member of the congregation of St Gregory’s Church, and walked to a service there only weeks before she died.

Lord Phillips said: “I have known Kathleen since I was in shorts and I can say she was a very remarkable lady by anyone’s standards.

“In my address, I shall be trying to evoke something of the spirit of the woman, which was extraordinary, and I will touch on episodes of her life that nearly all revolve around her home town and people, and her locally important family. It will be hard to exaggerate what an extraordinary individual she was – she was a one-off.”

Although she was a spinster, Kathleen’s burial on St Valentine’s Day will be fitting, according to Lord Phillips, who added: “She liked men, but I just think she was unlucky in love. I think however, she would have been difficult to woo because she came from a strong-minded family.”

Kathleen’s family is planning a memorial boat trip on the River Stour in August.