Family and friends attended a Memorial Mass at the St Gerard’s Catholic Church on Thursday March 8 to celebrate the life of Penelope Anne Hope-Ross who died on February 22 after an eight year fight against cancer.
The service started with a reading, “To Everything there is a Season”, by Donald Curtis. The mass continued with other readings and prayers and renditions from the choir. Father Paul Czoch gave a homily recalling the life of Penny. He stressed the contribution she made to the church and her commitment to actively follow up on promises.
Tributes were also given by her husband, Malcolm Hope-Ross, and through a letter, from her son, Alex, in Canada, read by Malcolm’s son, Ian. Clare Hage recalled the help that Penny had given to Wanda Mumoz and her family for many years, and was instrumental in getting her medical aid that had made a vital difference to Wanda’s life.
Penny Hope-Ross lived in Anguilla for nearly 20 years. She first came to the island through the Department for International Development in London in order to set up the Statistics Department. She headed the Department for several years with much success. Following that she devoted her time to helping many people in Anguilla and was an active member in various organisations including the Optimists, the Soroptimists and the Anguilla Animal Rescue Foundation.
