Profound sadness at the loss of a phenomenal businesswoman, a passionate advocate of Clonmel

The passing of a great advocate of  Clonmel, Vera Hewitt, has caused profound sadness throughout the community.

Vera Hewitt made a major impact on the town as a public representative and businesswoman.

The bakery she established with her late husband Billy was an institution in the town and Vera is fondly remembered by the loyal customers of the family bakery.

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Moving tributes were paid to Vera Hewitt this week as her dedication to public office and serving the people of the town with distinction over decades was recalled.

The Mayor of Clonmel, Cllr Pat English, described her as a tireless worker on behalf of the ordinary man and woman.
Vera was described as a giant of local government and a champion of the people she served in the community.

Her heartbroken daughter, Sarah, on behalf of the family, paid a wonderful tribute to her mother at the Requiem Mass in St Mary’s Church in Irishtown on Monday morning.

Reflecting on how she felt about the work her mother was doing in the world, Sarah said Vera found a way to get things done.
“I realised it wasn’t all hunky dory for mam in the world as a woman, doing what she was doing. But she had an ability to find the gap in the ditch.

“Combined with her courage and wisdom, her positive can-do attitude meant that despite obstacles, she found a way to get things done.

VISION
“She had a bird-like elevated thinking from an aerial perspective, she could see things clearly, think outside the box, and had a vision for the future and an ability to look at life in terms of a community’s needs and wants, rather than just an individual need and want. And it was this community, in this valley near Slievenamon, that she served,” said Sarah.

Sarah spoke lovingly about the family bakery that her parents established in the town.

“A few years after getting married, Mum and Dad set up the bakery, providing nourishment and sweetness for a community, was right up Mam’s Street.

“She spent over 50 years behind the counter on Mitchell Street, wrapping bread, filling bags with scones, rock buns, shells, fancies, cheesecakes, queen cakes, fresh cream eclairs, doughnuts, coffee buns, vanilla slices, and jam pastries. Putting cakes into boxes, sealing the box with cellotape, writing T O P on the top.Each person left with their box and instructions as to how to hold the box with a warning not to turn it upside down.
If the customer had a bag, Mam would take the bag from them and put the box in the bag herself, telling them not to put anything on top of the box. This is an example of her attention to detail.
Over the counter, also, she gave good counsel to people looking for advice on matters personal and public.
She was energised for meeting people, and so rather than being tired after work, she had surplus energy and interest in community work,” said Sarah.

Vera was very involved in the Fleadh Ceoil when it came to Clonmel and was co-founder of the Mental Health Association in Clonmel in 1992, helping to support people with mental health issues and to promote a positive attitude toward mental health.
Vera was one of the founding members of the Clonmel Tidy Towns Committee.

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She played an influential role in organising the St Patrick’s Day Parade and was a stalwart of the Town Twinning group.
One of her proudest moments in public life was the moment she met Mary Robinson on February 20, 1992.

That day,Vera became the first female Mayor to meet a female President of Ireland in their hometown and she was to go on to meet the second female President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, on May 28, 1999.

In 1991, Vera became the third female Mayor of Clonmel, following Patricia Keeley in 1976 and Carrie Acheson in 1980.
She served two terms: the first from 1991 to 1992 and the second from 1998 to 1999.

Vera became a registered mental health nurse at St Luke’s Hospital Clonmel on her 21st birthday on September 15, 1959.
Less than a year later, she had to give up her work in nursing when she married her husband Billy Hewitt on September 7, 1960 due to the marriage bar in Ireland at the time.

LOYAL CUSTOMERS
Vera and Billy went on to have five children together: Fiona, Desmond, Sarah-Jane, Conor and Emmet.

In 1966, Vera and Billy opened up Hewitt’s Bakery on Mitchell Street.
They developed a thriving bakery with loyal customers.

Vera was twice elected President of Clonmel Chamber of Commerce and was an influential figure in the business life of the town for decades.