Obituary: Sarah Glanville

We are very sad to announce the death of our dear friend and colleague Sarah Glanville, Process and Administration Manager in Research Services.

Sarah was recently diagnosed with cancer which she was, sadly, not able to overcome and died peacefully on Monday 3 June 2024 surrounded by her family. Sarah is survived by her husband, Barry, and her daughter, Katie.

Sarah started her professional career at the University in August 1987 as a Clerical Assistant in the Finance team but spent the majority of her career undertaking a variety of administrative support roles within the Research Services team.

Sarah’s wealth of knowledge and experience of the University was crucial to the working of Research Services and she was at heart of everything we did.

Not only did she support all of our operational activities, she organised team social events: her favourite time of the year was Christmas – often coming in at weekends to decorate the office – and she always set about enthusiastically arranging our Christmas parties even when we groaned about it being too early every year.

She loved being part of the team and helped every single colleague settle in when they joined us – the most important introduction for new members of the team was always to Sarah.

Sarah was always willing to help everyone with their queries, no matter how weird and wonderful, and her understanding of the way the University worked solved many a problem.

She was kind, helpful and cheerful and we are proud to have known and worked with her. Sarah touched many people’s working lives, both as a colleague and as a friend and she will be deeply missed.

A memorial service will be arranged in a few weeks’ time and Sarah’s family welcome friends and colleagues attending if they wish to do so. If you wish to receive information about the memorial service then please email me on a.vandodeweerd@reading.ac.uk so you can be included in the communication once details are known.

by Dr Anne-Marie van Dodeweerd, Director of Research Services

Support is available from the University for those affected by this news.

Colleagues can find information on the University’s wellbeing webpages, including on our Employee Assistance Programme. Support is also available from a range of charities, including Cruse Bereavement Support.