Tributes paid to Coventry councillor after sudden death

[dutchman]

She was 70 and died while on holiday with her family



Tributes have been paid to well-respected and much-loved Coventry councillor Hazel Sweet who passed away suddenly this weekend.

Hazel, who was elected to serve the Wyken ward four times after first winning the seat in 2007, died while on a family holiday.

She was 70 years old.

Fellow Wyken ward councillor and Cllr Sweet’s daughter, Faye Abbott, said her mother would be sorely missed.

“Mum always wanted to help people,” she said.

“She always wanted to help people throughout her life and make a difference – it was at the heart of everything she did.

“Our family has lost a special wife, mother, grandmother and friend and the city has lost one of its biggest supporters.”

In her role at the council, Cllr Sweet served as chair and deputy chair of the planning committee; chair of audit committee; and as a member of both business, economy and enterprise; and health and social care scrutiny boards.

She was also a former chair of Coventry City Council’s adoption panel – an area in which she held a great deal of interest since fostering 29 boys and two girls over a seven-year period as a foster carer.

Cllr Sweet worked for many years at the General Electric Company (GEC), which later became Marconi. The Labour councillor became secretary of the Trades Council while working at the factory.

She worked at GEC with her beloved husband George who she was inseparable from and knew for more than 50 years.

Council leader Cllr George Duggins said Hazel was “a strong, independent woman, who was respected by politicians on all sides of the council chamber”.

He added: “She cared very deeply about the people in her ward and I know I speak for all of the council when I say she will be missed and that our thoughts and prayers are with Faye, Hazel’s husband George and all of their family and friends.”

Leader of the Conservative opposition cllr Gary Ridley added: “It was always evident that Hazel loved being a councillor and representing the people of her ward.

“She worked tirelessly for them and I know will be greatly missed by everyone at the Council and by all those she represented.”

The Lord Mayor of Coventry, cllr Ann Lucas, added: “Hazel was a good friend and respected colleague who was always determined to do the best for the people she represented.

“She always went over and above to get the job done and I know she will be missed by everyone who knew and worked with her.”

Funeral arrangements have still to be arranged but the family is asking for donations to Feeding Coventry as this would have been her way of continuing to help people in need in the city.