“I’ve been to two funerals in the past five days, both ‘Political Titans’ in their own right but on different sides of the political divide. The funerals were marked by two of the best eulogies I’ve had the privilege to listen to. What struck me was the similarities between the two people, despite their political differences. The word that summed up both Bob Greenland and Sylvia Gilbert was Passion; for their families, political beliefs and the areas they lived in/supported.
Sylvia was the devoted wife of John, mother of four and grandmother of five, great grandmother of one. She was a Town Councillor for ten years and Mayor of Monmouth between 1995 - 1996. She was a remarkable, larger than life lady with a huge passion for her family, social justice, the Labour Party, and Monmouth. She was on the executive committee of the GMB Trade Union at a time when few women were involved in the Trade Union movement. At one time she was on 28 committees, including being a School governor for many years. She had meetings with Harold Wilson, James Callaghan, Neil Kinnock, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Arthur Scargill. In 2011 she was nominated for The Times/Sternberg Active Life Awards, which honours the achievements of individuals over the age of 70 who have excelled in any field but with a particular focus on excellence in charitable endeavours both in the UK and abroad.
Bob was an equally devoted family man. He was elected to Monmouthshire County Council in 2004, joined Cabinet in 2006 and was appointed Deputy Leader in 2008 - 2020. Bob was a member of the Welsh Local Government Association Council and represented the Council on various outside bodies including the Cardiff Capital Region. Passionate about supporting local business and enterprise, he led various strategic initiatives including chairing and establishing the Business Resilience Forum when the pandemic hit, to support local businesses in the face of the coronavirus crisis. Bob was passionate about Monmouthshire, committed to helping local young people access housing, and supported the development of affordable homes. Promoting education and leisure in the County, he was instrumental in the building of the new schools in Caldicot and Monmouth, as well as the leisure centre and pool in Monmouth. He was also ordained in 2018.
“Monmouth has lost some Community greats this year,” said Sher. Another man passionate about this town was local businessman John Blake, BEM, who was mace bearer to the mayor of Monmouth since 1965, stepping down from the role after 53 years, serving 47 different mayors. John was another extraordinary character; nothing was ever too much trouble for him.
“David (Evans) and I knew Sylvia and her husband John, throughout her time on Council because of our involvement with Monmouth Festival and Carnival. I’ve only recently got to know Bob through my role as Chamber Chair, whereas John I felt I knew for ever,” she added.
“For many years David and I were invited to the Mayor-making ceremony because of our involvement with town affairs. John always stood proudly next to the new incumbent to the Mayoral chain. When we were running the carnival, John would always meet us on the field at 7.30am on the day of the event: we never had to contact him, he just turned up to help. He’d then go and change into his macebearer’s uniform to be in the procession with the Mayor, then go home to have a bite to eat,change and come back to the field at 7pm to help us clear away. In latter years, whenever we saw him he’d say, “what you need to do in this town is…!”
“I wanted to share these three people with you. The greatest privilege of this and other roles, is the people I now represent and others whom I have met along the way; whose paths I wouldn’t have ordinarily crossed, but who unwittingly have made mine and others’ lives that much richer for having the good fortune of meeting them” she said.
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