Sadness over death of Wolverhampton Grammar School's 'friendly face'
A long-serving secretary at Wolverhampton Grammar School who was known as the "friendly face" that greeted visitors has died. Constance Brough was 80.
She was secretary to four headmasters at the school in Compton Road until she retired after 25 years. Before that, she was also secretary at the former Bilston Girls High School to headmistress Hester Mottershead.
Miss Mottershead tragically died in August of a suspected stroke just hours after burglars ransacked her home.
Miss Brough, a former Wednesbury Commercial College pupil, started her career as as clerical worker at Willenhall and Wednesfield police stations between 1948 and 1965.
She grew up in Willenhall, where her parents Horace and Minnie ran an off-licence in Stafford Street.
Miss Brough then went on to live in Tettenhall with her sister Ann Proctor, her husband Alan, who was a training manager at the Express & Star, and their children.
After a spell working at Bilston Girls' High School, she joined the grammar school, which was then a boys' school and was voluntary aided.
Miss Brough worked under four headmasters – the late Ernest Taylor, Tony Stocks, Patrick Hutton and Dr Bernard Trafford.
On her retirement in 1997, Miss Brough told the Express & Star: "Being the boss's secretary is a fascinating job.
"Everything good or bad passes over your desk.
"The joys, the triumphs, the spectacular achievements and also the downsides, the failures, the disappointments, the sadness and the tragedies."
She died of cancer on December 8 at New Cross Hospital.
Her sister Ann said today: "She was very well known. She had lots of friends at the grammar school and people always knew her as the first friendly face people would see when they visited the school."
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