 HEATHER GODDARD-WATSON 28 AUGUST 1954 - 19 JULY 2007
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| Heather Goddard was born in Kingston upon Hull. She has 3 brothers - her elder brother David (who lives in Canada), and younger brothers Paul and Andrew who live in Hull. During her tender years Heather's parental situation was not entirely stable and unfortunately she was orphaned in 1990.
Her early school life was in Hull and there she developed the skills which dictated her future career - the commercial world - secretarial work and Personal Assistant being her forte . She migrated to London preferring a peripatetic and varied situation and was mainly employed in the legal or medical professions.
She came up to Melton Mowbray in 1973 and worked for a time with the MoD at Old Dalby. In 1983 she stood as a Parliamentary candidate for the Ecology Party and it was at this time that she attended the annual Green Gathering at Glastonbury, cycling there and back from Melton Mowbray. She continued her enthusiastic pursuit of matters charitable and humanitarian and was a Founder of Melton Tigers Sports Club in 1989 with Mr. Norman Slater (now Borough Mayor-elect). Heather joined the Melton Mowbray Amateur Radio Society and with the benefit of her academic abilities soon passed the obligatory examinations (in 1983) to secure her transmitting licence - not a mean feat in those days as lady operators were certainly in the minority: she took out her call sign G7JNN in 1990-91. Joining the national Radio Amateur Emergency Network she soon found her niche and coupled this with her membership of St. John Ambulance to advantage - her communications skills coming to the fore also. If I dare say so - with the wisdom of a lady - she married another equally charity-minded local radio amateur - Steve Watson, G1KWF - at St. Mary's Parish Church, Melton Mowbray on 28th May 1994 - I am pleased to say I was present at that event. Their combined talents produced more than double the benefits to mankind of either one of them and they went on in this almost symbiotic relationship to enjoy an idyllic marriage. Steve's employment however became the victim of the Ministry of Defence re-organisations and our happy couple moved to Malvern: both were active members of the Royal Signals Amateur Radio Society and were generous in their donations to that cause as well as being involved in the Malvern Repeater Group - their strong affiliation to Melton Mowbray ARS continued. Heather maintained her interest in St. John Ambulance Brigade and later joined the Red Cross. Attending many provincial radio Rallies with Steve she soon became a very well-known figure in the radio world and following her sudden sad demise on 19th July many expressions of condolence were received from the enthusiasts in the hobby. Heather's funeral Service took place at All Saints' Church, Huntingdon on Wednesday 1st August 2007 prior to a private green burial. Among the large congregation of family, representatives of several organisations (Red Cross, St. John Ambulance, Cambridge Repeater Group et al) were G3NVK and G7ARB on behalf of RSARS and MMARS and G4LWB and Hilary on behalf of MMARS. The Tribute was rendered by Richard Winters, G3NVK. Heather's name and call sign are being added to the Melton Mowbray ARS Silent Keys' Memorial and a call for customary moments of silence will be made at the AGM in September 2007.  Remember
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