Tributes paid to former Citizens Advice manager and Louis Baylis trustee

The family of a ‘remarkable and inspirational’ woman with a lifelong commitment to helping others has paid tribute to her boundless energy and empathy.

Patricia Lattimer, known as Pat, died at her home in College Avenue, Maidenhead, on Friday. She was 77.

A mother of four, she combined raising a family with education, a career in the voluntary sector and numerous charity roles.

Born in Brixton, her family moved to Mitcham, near Wimbledon, where her childhood experiences of the care sector shaped the social conscience that guided her for the rest of her life.

Following the birth of her brother John, her mother became ill and was hospitalised.

With no help available, their father had no choice but to allow four-year-old Pat and her younger sister Barbara to be placed in a children’s home where no contact with parents was allowed for the first six weeks.

Alone and seemingly abandoned in a harsh environment, Barbara still remembers how Pat fought fiercely and fearlessly to protect her. But their father broke the rules every Wednesday to show his face at the window.

Pat knew they were not forgotten and her job was to reassure Barbara until their mother recovered and the family was reunited.

Pat’s family believe the events of that forced separation informed all of her priorities in later life; motherhood, family, friends and social welfare, particularly that of children.

After passing her 11-plus, Pat went to The Willows School in Morden. Aged 16 she met Clive in a debating competition with rival Wallington Grammar School. Later, Clive persuaded Pat to go to a New Year’s Eve party with him.

Clive said, “We couldn’t get the bus home so we walked six miles in the rain. We would stop every now and again to kiss and the passing cars hooted at us.”

In 1967, while Clive worked for a year before going to Bristol University, Pat went to Israel with VSO but had to be evacuated because of the Six-Day War.

Safely back in the UK her plans to study for a teaching degree at Sheffield University came to an abrupt end in 1968 when Pat discovered she was pregnant with their first child, Justine.

They married in April and moved back to Bristol shortly after the birth, where Clive continued his studies.

“Neither of our families had money so we were supported by Bristol social services, and this was another brick in her belief about social cohesion,” said Clive.

Upon graduation, they returned to Mitcham where they were quickly given a council flat.

Three more children followed and in 1977 the family moved to Maidenhead after Clive joined Mars in
Slough.

Pat returned to education, initially with the Open University, and then at Reading University where she gained a degree in English.

In 1986 she joined Citizens Advice in Maidenhead,
initially as a volunteer.

She became a member of staff and rapidly rose from supervisor to deputy manager and then manager, a role she held from 1994 to 2010, overseeing the move from the old CAB office in Holmanleaze to Marlow Road, which included an official opening ceremony by the Queen.

During this time Pat was also a long-serving governor at Furze Platt Secondary School and involved in community campaigns to preserve the town’s hospital services, stop one of its secondary schools from being closed, and improve school meals.

Clive said: “If there was a cause she felt strongly about, she would campaign for it. She was tireless.”

After retirement, Pat returned to volunteering at the Slough CAB until its closure. She also became chair of governors at Larchfield Primary School.

One of the first female members of Maidenhead Rotary Club, later serving as its president, she championed events for children including the Youth Speaks, Young Photographer and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) competitions.

For the 2012 Olympics Pat was a ‘Games Maker’ at Dorney Lake and during the pandemic she volunteered at the Maidenhead vaccination centre.

Her expertise and experience also proved vital in her role as a trustee of the Louis Baylis Trust, the grant giving charity that owns the Maidenhead Advertiser. Trust chairman Peter Sands said: “Her wise counsel was readily given and always valued.”

Her family said of Pat: “She was a force; the tide that lifted all boats.

“A patient, sensitive listener, she was welcoming to everyone. Her joy came from the happiness of others and her greatest joy of all was her family.”

Pat is survived by Clive, children Justine, Kieron, Nathan and Sian, her brother John, sister Barbara, and seven grandchildren.

Pat’s funeral will take place on November 5 at GreenAcres Chiltern Park, Beaconsfield, followed by a celebration of her life at Norden Farm.