You may have heard the very sad news that Stan Newens died peacefully at home on Tuesday evening March 2nd, aged 91.
Stan was the Chair of the Civic Society and the driving force behind it since its inception in 1999. He was passionate about our town and took every opportunity to promote it and the principles behind it.
He was an integral part of Harlow since moving here in the 1960s. He was first elected Labour MP for the area as part of the Epping constituency in 1964 and for the then new parliamentary seat of Harlow in 1974 until 1984. He became a Euro MP and travelled the world promoting his ideals of peace and freedom until eventually standing down from public life in 1999.
He was very active in leading the Civic Society and in many other local organisations including the Gibberd Garden Trust and the Harlow Health Centres Trust.
He was a distinguished historian and lecturer and the author of many historical and political books. He was also president of the Waltham Abbey Historical Society and the North Weald Preservation Society, vice president of the Socialist History Society and a Trustee of the Victoria County History of Essex Trust.
A person of great integrity, widely respected and admired, we will miss him greatly.
We will mark his passing when we can, along with the many other causes and organisations he was active in.
You can read an appreciation of Stan from the Spring 2020 edition of the Essex Journal here.