Tributes have been paid to Dr Stella Clarke CBE, a leading member of the local community in Bristol and Bath who has died aged 94.,
Her eldest son, Giles, said she had dedicated her life to improving the “lives of those less fortunate”. He said she helped “lead the way for women” to feel they had a “right to be sitting in the decision-making rooms”.
Stella Clarke made history by being appointed the first woman chair of the council of Bristol University.
She was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the university – the highest honour it can give – in recognition of her “sustained and outstanding contribution to the life of the university over many years.”
Stella Clarke was Vice Lord Lieutenant and Deputy Lieutenant of Bristol. She was also a magistrate and chair of the Bristol City Bench and the Juvenile Bench. From 1974-81 she was a BBC Governor.
She was involved with various housing projects including forming the Zenzele housing project in St Paul’s in 1981.
Stella Clarke and her late husband husband, Charles, acquired the Theatre Royal, Bath in 1972 and extensively redecorated the building.