My wife, Susan Moser, who has died aged 76, was well known locally for her charity work and services to the wider community of Elstree and Borehamwood in Hertfordshire.
For 50 years – inspired by our son Richard, who has learning disabilities – Susan was variously a trustee, vice-chair and chair of Hertsmere Mencap. In the 1980s she created and produced the Zipadeedoo-Day, an annual Mencap fete at which a celebrity would start events – Una Stubbs, John Conteh and the actor Rudolph Walker being among those that she cold-called and personally persuaded to take part.
For many years Susan also chaired the Crossroads service (providing home care to local people in need), volunteered at a local school for children with special needs and produced numerous gang shows for the local Scouts.
In the 2000s she had the idea of creating an art group for lonely and elderly people which she called Tickled Pink; and, with the benefit of a national lottery grant, established it as a weekly service. A talented artist herself, she encouraged attenders to paint pictures to music. Soon afterwards she also established a group called Up and Away, providing weekly drama sessions for children with learning disabilities.
In 2018 Susan came up with a project called Make a Face; which she pitched to local primary school headteachers to encourage all their students to paint a self-portrait. The result was more than 2,500 laminated A5 self-portraits mounted along the length of Borehamwood high street. For Susan this was about self-esteem, giving the children the rare opportunity to control how they appear to the world.
Born in Manchester to Phillip Cohen, a production manager for a raincoat manufacturer, and Anne (nee Krebs), a housewife, Susan attended North Manchester grammar school for girls. She then worked for an advertising agency before becoming a receptionist in the Manchester offices of the Daily Mail newspaper.
We met in 1967 and were married in 1969, after which she never took on a job outside the home, preferring to work on a voluntary basis. As a mature student in her 50s she gained her degree in English and drama and a diploma in drama therapy from the University of Hertfordshire.
In 2012 Hertsmere council recognised Susan’s “good work for the benefit of the residents of the borough” with its annual civic award.
She is survived by me, our three children, Nick, Richard and Natalie, and three grandchildren, Molly, Paige and Isaac.
