The former headmistress of Bermondsey’s St Michael’s school Sister Ann Hoskinson sadly passed away on Saturday evening at a convent in Oxford.
A formidable figure for hundreds of pupils at the school on John Felton Road in the 1980s and 90s Sister Ann is said to have ‘went peacefully’ at the Elmthorpe convent in Oxfordshire on Saturday 29 December.
On a post on the school’s Facebook former pupils talked of a ‘great person who meant a great deal to us or had a great impact on our lives.’
Others have relayed memories of visits to her family home in Alverstoke, Portsmouth, that she gave over to the church when she converted to the Catholic faith and took religious vows with the Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco.
Pupils used the home for weekend and weekly retreats when she took over as the headteacher of the school. Other have praised her for helping many families over the years.
Sister Ann had been suffering from ill health and combined with diabetes she passed with sisters from Elmthorpe at her side who have reassured friends in Bermondsey that ‘she went went peacefully and is now at rest.’
No details are yet available about her funeral arrangements, but there are already calls for a service to be held in Bermondsey.
She was a wonderful and caring person who combined education with developing kind and caring young people.