Tributes to Conwy ‘living legend’ who set up school in Bahamas in '50s

Bertha Rita Jane Pugh, known as “Rita”, from Trefriw, died on February 26 after a battle with dementia.

Her friend, carer and companion, Malcolm Brady, has told of how a woman who “will be missed by all” set up a school in the Bahamas with her mother and brother in the mid-1950s.

Rita was born in Liverpool on October 8, 1926, the youngest child and only girl of Mr Earnest Edwin Samuel Pugh and Miss Bertha Hope.

She studied history at Durham University, and also gained many certificates of excellence for her piano skills.

Bertha Rita Pugh (Image: Malcolm Brady)

Rita went on to teach at a school in Fallowfield, but for as long as she could remember, Mr Brady, said, she had wanted to be a missionary.

Just as she was looking forward to a new life and job in South Africa, a visitor came to her house from Nassau, in the Bahamas, and persuaded her there instead.

There were links already in Nassau, as her brother had already spent some of his years in the Royal Air Force there, and after giving it some though, Rita decided to accept.

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Though her father had died by this point, Rita travelled with her mother by boat from Liverpool to the Bahamas in July 1952, initially teaching at a colleague and a night school for adults.

Her older brother, John, soon followed, mainly handling Church responsibilities while Rita taught.

Mr Brady said: “She taught the children anywhere she could; first under a large mango tree outside, then progressed to an old garage, and then yet again into an old wooden hut.

“During this time, the number of children was very small, however as time went by, the number of children attending Rita’s classes was massively increasing as word spread.

“The Pugh family were coming to be accepted, respected, and loved by the local community for the good work they were doing.”

A plan was then put into action by Rita and her family to build their own school, and they were ably and tirelessly assisted by members of the community.

Bertha Rita Pugh (Image: Malcolm Brady)

Much of the money to build it was raised themselves, through activities like hotdog sales at lunchtime, and turkey suppers.

Their school was eventually founded in 1955, taking on the same name of the Church where Rita, her brother and mother resided: St Anne’s School.

Its motto was agreed as “By the grace of God”, and the school’s logo has a shield in one corner, depicting a small church inside it to represent St Anne’s.

In the other corner of the badge is a large mango tree, a nod to where Rita taught many of her early classes.

Mr Brady said: “I am very pleased and so proud to report that the school has continued to grow, thrive and flourish, and now has the reputation of being one of the best schools in the whole of the Bahamas.

“Most of the Bahamas’ leading professionals and people in high government owe it to their education they received from St Anne’s School.

“Nassau is now a better place because of the contribution in that country’s development, made possible from the very kind assistance provided by the Pugh families in those early years.”

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In the mid-1970s, Rita had to reluctantly return to the UK with her mother to care for her, after she had become ill in her later years, suffering from dementia.

Rita moved to Fleet, Hampshire, and after her mother sadly died, she took up a position as headmistress at St Nicholas’ High School, where she worked until Retirement.

After retirement, she left Hampshire and moved to Glanwydden in North Wales, so that she could be nearer to her other brother, William, who had become terminally ill.

During this time, Rita became a loyal member of St Trillo’s Church parish.

In roughly 2004, her brother, John, had a fall while in the Bahamas, and did not heal as well as had been anticipated.

His mobility had deteriorated somewhat, so he decided to leave the Bahamas and come and live in North Wales to live with Rita, who cared for him until his death several years later.

Rita, always seeking the next adventure, sold her house in Glanwydden in July 2008, and moved to the Scottish Highlands, where she lived there for the next five years.

It was towards the latter of these five years that she started to show the early signs of dementia, an illness she recognised and related to as her mother had also contracted this same disease.

In July 2013 she moved to Trefriw, before fracturing her hip in November that year, after which she never regained her full strength.

She sadly died in the arms of her devoted companion and primary carer, Mr Brady, during the afternoon of February 26.

Mr Brady added: “Rita will be missed by all - family, friends, carers, nurses, and anyone who had the fortune of meeting this living legend.

“Beautiful Rita Pugh: rest in peace.”

Rita’s funeral will take place tomorrow (March 15) at St Trillo's Church, Rhos-on-Sea, followed by committal at Colwyn Bay Crematorium.