Susan (Tewley) Eppel – A Celebration Of Her Life 13th October 2021

 As many of you know, past Energy Campaigner and Treasurer of Leicester Friends of the Earth, Herbert Eppel, recently lost his wife Sue, to cancer.  Alan Gledhill, long time friend and Herbert's Best Man wrote the following tribute and recollections of his time with Sue and Herbert.

I first met Sue in the early to mid-nineties when I moved to Leicester. She was a determined campaigner for environmental issues. Having a firm grasp of issues, Sue readily and persuasively engaged with members of the public.

We were both involved in the Genetically Modified Foods campaign. We borrowed a specially made Frankenstein-like costume from national Friends of the Earth. It was a hideous, garish rubber mask decorated with GM vegetables, attached to men’s clothing, and with rubber hands. It was worn by us protesters in turn. It was quite heavy and sweaty inside, especially in the sun. Outside Sainsbury’s then Belgrave Store, we performed with this monster, assailing customers coming and going to the store. Sue wisely eschewed any time in the suit, preferring to persuasively engage with the shoppers. Later, we were invited to attend the opening of an exhibition at Snibston Discovery Park, which featured protest. It included our Franken monster. We staged a light-hearted mock protest, too. The Leader of the County Council thought it was just edgy enough to increase his street cred by being photographed with the ‘protestors’.

Former active members have their own memories of campaigning with Sue. Kay Snowdon and Neill Talbot, now living in Bristol, recall the friendly dinners, lively discussions and good humour.

"We will always remember Sue for her passion for nature and all things wildlife. We were involved in several campaigns with her over the years which included: protecting trees in a local wildlife site, persuading Parish Councils, the City Council, and Leicestershire County to let grass verges grow, and, campaigning to get biodiversity to feature more in local and regional planning. Sue with Herbert hosted some great dinner parties, and we would always end up putting the world to rights! Sue was passionate about educating people about nature and wildlife and what they could do to protect it in their local patch. Leicester and indeed the UK has lost a great supporter and advocate for wildlife and biodiversity and she will be sorely missed."

 Harriet Pugsley says, “I particularly remember, along with Sue and Debbie, taking part in a Day of Action at Raab Karcher, the timber merchant on Bede Island South.  No subterfuge was employed.   We brazenly walked in and 'stole' away some tropical hard wood that we then labelled as being stolen property from the Brazilian Amazon.  Of course, this caused some consternation. I think the police were called. We had made our point and left without being handcuffed or locked up.”

 Like most of us, Sue had diverse interests, and we heard many fond and moving recollections at her funeral from her time as a Parish Councillor, in the Aylestone Meadows Appreciation Society, campaigning for the preservation of St Mary’s Allotments as a natural space and in the Leicester Civic Society. And, importantly, Sue and Herbert got together some twenty years ago after meeting through Leicester Friends of the Earth, eventually marrying; an occasion on which I was proud to be Herbert’s Best Man.

 

Sue was certainly no armchair environmentalist. She felt she had a responsibility to contribute; towards bringing beneficial change, variously, through protection of valuable landscapes and habitat, care for animals both wild and domesticated, conservation of the riches of the cultural and built environment and, not least, to human wellbeing.

 Sue stood up to be counted, and though generally avoiding the eye of the camera, in her modest but assertive way made her very personal mark. She will be greatly missed, is rightly celebrated and will be held in our memories going forward.

 Sue’s life was celebrated at the Markfield Natural Burial Ground and at Soar Point in the city centre and was well attended at both locations.

 Alan Gledhill