The club is saddened to share the news that our former Hon Secretary and Life Member Gay Brewer passed away on Christmas Eve, after fighting Alzheimer’s for the past several years.

Gay and her husband Mike first came to the Club in the mid-nineties bringing their son James to the Mini and Junior section, where they were coached by Kipper and Gay’s brother Mike Reed, in the same team as club stalwart Marcus Jenkins. Mike was Treasurer of the club and when Lil Collins stood down in 2001, Mike recommended Gay as Hon Secretary and she was duly elected.

Gay was an extremely diligent Hon Sec. She managed to make her own mark on the club, serving for 20 years with great distinction in the role. I asked her husband Mike to let me know what he wanted included in this tribute and he said

“Gay loved every minute of being the club secretary, had it not been for her wicked illness she would still be doing it now. She loved St Mary’s, had Green and Black in her veins and simply loved being involved and making a difference.”

As well as carrying out the clerking duties of the Hon Sec, Gay was also a keen member of the selection committee and was also the club’s disciplinary secretary, where she worked closely with the GRFU officials and made many friends. She served under four different Chairs and was always forthright in expressing her views on how to improve the club.

In the words of former Chair Pete Phelps “Gay was a good servant of St Mary’s. I spent over 10 years working with Gay at the club, agreeing on some things and disagreeing on many, but we always remained good friends. I will miss her a lot.”

Beyond carrying out her duties, Gay was also such a lovely person, was wonderful company, and shared the passion for St Mary’s that makes us what we are. Our thoughts and prayers are with her husband Mike, son James, brother Mike and the rest of the family.

We will share details of Gay’s funeral shortly but in the meantime, we will show our respects with a 1 minute applause before our 2 home games on January 4th v Southmead 1s and 2s, when the Geoff Williams Cup will also be at stake. It would be great to see you there.

Impavidus

Steve Cooke
Chairman