Remembering Sheila Addison

It is with great sadness that we record the death of Sheila Addison; Richard Ormston, Archdeacon of Northampton remembers her.

Sheila grew up in Norfolk, attending Thetford Grammar School. She was academically bright and very sporty – playing hockey, tennis at Junior Wimbledon, representing her county at ladies’ cricket and her country at basketball. Sheila was an educationalist: a teacher, a headteacher at a very young age and then a schools’ inspector. In fact she travelled around the world inspecting British schools – something that led to her strong and long relationship with Nepal. Perhaps her greatest achievement was the work she undertook to found and support the Emmanuel 2000 charity in Nepal – often visiting to oversee the work, or fundraising in the UK in support of the Christian church in Nepal.  

Sheila played an active part in the life of this diocese for many years. She was an important player in the training team, blending her considerable skills of communication with her uncanny ability to remember people’s names. At one crowded Headteachers’ Conference in the 1990s (with no name badges in sight), a new and young headteacher said to me in astonishment, “Sheila Addison has just shaken my hand and said, ‘I’m so pleased you could be here, Martin.’ How did she know my name?” The fact was that she knew everyone. Her workshops in the diocese were always informative, accessible and well attended. Equally, I can say from personal experience that you were only ever late once to one of Sheila’s sessions!

In later years, Sheila was responsible for organising clergy sabbaticals and took great care in helping the clergy to think through the best use of their sabbatical time. Sheila was a former member of St Giles’ Church, Northampton and then Great Doddington Church, before moving to Wales pre-pandemic.

Our prayers are with all who are sad at Sheila’s passing and so we remember at this season of the year that the Jesus of Bethlehem was also named ‘Emmanuel’, meaning ‘God is with us’. We remember the words of Jesus, “I am the resurrection and the life.” These are words that Sheila knew well. She was full of Jesus-centred faith. Now Sheila has met this Jesus face to face. She and we could not be in better hands.