Gladys Holloway has died at the age of 86. She worked for the BBC for nearly 46 years, quite an achievement from a remarkable lady. She started in 1946 at the age 14 at Aldenham House near Elstree, where her first boss had been one of original 25 staff at Savoy Hill. For most of her service she had been the Transcription’s Bookings clerk, first at St Hilda’s Maida Vale and then Kensington House in Shepherd’s Bush. Her job title utterly failed to describe the range of her duties (and functions – which are not necessarily the same things!) She was an island of calm in the midst of the occasional panic; adviser and assistant to a succession of Operations Managers; confidante of countless Transcription and other BBC staff; impeccable source of local knowledge and history; and most important of all a sort of workplace “mum” to generations of Transcription engineers whose thousands of expenses she typed…if only she had received commission! When she retired in 1992 the 100 or so guests at her retirement party were just a sample of the many lives she touched and careers she had helped. When she retired part of her job was done by computer, this wasn’t as reliable as Gladys but in her honour the scheduling software was renamed-the Graphic Listing Aid for Daily and Yearly Scheduling.
At the expense of her own happiness and over many years, Gladys dedicated her time away from work caring for her aged mother. Over the last few years it was her turn to be cared for at a home that she had been moved to, away from London, making it difficult for her friends to visit.
She will be deeply missed by her countless friends and colleagues all over the country.
Her funeral is at Southend Crematorium on 15th April 2019 at 10:20.