Angela Myers obituary

My mother, Angela Myers, who has died aged 85, was a teacher, a lay preacher in the Church of England, a writer and an avid reader of books.

Born in Watford, Hertfordshire, and brought up mainly in Liverpool, Angela was the youngest of four children of Harold Mellersh, a civil servant, author and survivor of the Somme, and Margot (nee Sadler).

Angela attended Belvedere high school in Liverpool and then studied English and philosophy at Keele University. After graduating in 1958 she became an editor in London, notably at the Readers Union and then at the publisher JM Dent & Sons. In 1961 she married my father, Robert Myers, an Anglo-French engineer whom she had met the year before through a mutual friend. In 1960s bohemian style, they began married life in a caravan in Surrey, then lived in Soho and in Notting Hill, from 1970 onwards.

Angela lectured in English literature at the University of London’s department of extramural studies in the late 60s, then became a secondary school teacher, while bringing up three daughters. She had a long career, from 1970 to 1997, as deputy head of English at Notting Hill and Ealing high school for girls, where many pupils were inspired by her love of literature.

She was active in two churches, firstly St John’s Notting Hill, then at the tiny St Michael & All Angels in Crux Easton, Hampshire, where she and Robert bought a weekend cottage in the 80s. Angela trained to become a licensed lay preacher after retiring in 2002. This new vocation saw her preaching fortnightly sermons in five village churches in north Hampshire across two decades, often mixing literary and religious themes, as well as globalist, feminist and socialist concerns.

While still a teacher Angela found time to write several novels, plays, poems and short stories, some of which she self-published, and she also wrote daily letters to friends and family in her illegible handwriting. In later life she gained a master’s in Victorian studies and a BA in art history, both from Birkbeck, University of London. As well as devouring the Guardian every day, she was an enthusiastic member of a book club, an Oxfam volunteer, a prison visitor and a keen gardener. On holiday (mostly in France and Wales) she would enjoy painting, as well as reading aloud to her grandchildren.

Her marriage to Robert ended in divorce in 2015. She is survived by her second husband, David Wolfenden, her three daughters, Emily, Alice and me, six grandchildren and two siblings, Nick and Jackie.