MARIE Evans, children’s social worker and manager in Warwick district for more than 30 years, has died aged 68, after a life dedicated to the service of others.
She is survived by Ray, her husband of 50 years, and their two daughters, both of whom followed their mother into children’s social work, and four grandsons.
Marie was born and raised in Liverpool, where her mother had married a Dutch seaman. She was one of the passengers on the boat when Ferry Cross the Mersey was filmed in 1964, and she attended the Cavern Club where the Beatles used to play.
After marrying in 1968, Marie and Ray moved to Winsford in Cheshire, where their daughters were born.
They moved to Leamington where in 1976 Marie became the receptionist at Myton Park, which was then a children’s home.
Believing that she would be capable of working as a social worker herself Marie gained qualifications at night school at Warwickshire College, before starting a three year social work course at Lanchester Polytechnic in Coventry, qualifying in 1983.
Twenty-five years later she was presented with her long-service award by Warwickshire’s Olympic gold medallist Sally Gunnell, for continuous service with Warwickshire County Council.
She was based at Warwick and Spinney Hill before being promoted to her first supervisory post, running the district’s new family centre.
In 1991 she became the team manager at Holly Walk, where she established the district children’s assessment team in 1995.
In 2003 she was again promoted to the role of principal operations manager, responsible for all children’s services in the district until she retired in 2010.
Marie worked with other local agencies, including Sure Start, Bath Place and the Young Homeless Project, and helped to set up accommodation for care leavers at Newbold Lodge.
She was extremely well-respected by all her staff, who described her as a ‘people person’, and dealt well with difficult situations, always placing vulnerable children at the heart of her work.
Following their retirement Marie and Ray continued to live in Leamington, and enjoyed a three month world tour, visiting America, Australasia and South-East Asia.
