Our parents were living on a farm near London during World War 2, which is where Katharine was born in 1943. As a baby she slept in her pram outside during the day, despite the occasional misdirected bomb and doodle bugs droning overhead on their way to the capital. As well as surviving the blitz, Katharine had a miraculous recovery from meningitis, which she contracted at the age of 4. Our mother was told by a doctor at Great Ormond Street Hospital that they wanted to try an experimental treatment, but warned Mum that Katharine might not survive the night. However, when Mum returned the next day (no overnight stays then) Katharine was sitting up playing happily in her bed. She had become one of the earliest patients to be treated for the disease with a new wonder drug, ‘penicillin’.
As children, we were all raised in a family that had a strong, Protestant work ethic, attending church and Sunday school from an early age. In the early 1950s our father got a job in Liverpool so we were all moved to Wallasey on the Wirral, where Katharine went to the High School becoming House Captain and Deputy Head Girl. While there, she forged many strong friendships, which she maintained throughout her life. In 1962 she left us and the family home to go to an all-girls college at London University, forming more lasting friendships and graduating in English Language and Literature in 1965.
After graduating, Katharine felt called to join VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas) and was trained for a posting to Nigeria. However, a fortnight before she was due to leave for Africa, Katharine was reassigned to teach English to 5th and 6th formers in a large boys’ school in Kota Bharu, Malaysia. She told us later she believed this change was meant to be, because one weekend she returned to school to find the boys playing a rugby match, being refereed by a handsome, young Sri Lankan head teacher. Katharine noticed that the dashing young referee was having trouble with his pen while writing notes, so rushed to his assistance, and thus began Katharine’s happy, lifelong partnership with Suria. They moved to England and married in May 1967: our lovely sister and delightful brother-in-law.
Margaret Price and Richard Lacey