Obituary
Sarah Harriet Banner - 22 July 1979 – 19 January 2020
I first met Sarah in 2007 when, as a newly co-opted Northamptonshire Law Society Council member, I was immediately struck by the confident and engaging Junior Lawyers Division Rep, who was clearly destined for great things. Sarah started her legal career with Tollers in 2003, qualifying in 2007 as a solicitor and then progressing through Solicitor, Associate and Senior Associate private client roles with Howes Percival and then Shoosmiths. A member of STEP and a Fellow of the Agricultural Land Association, Sarah had a life-long love of learning, having read French and German at University of Southampton before taking professional qualifications at Birmingham City University. Sarah served the Northamptonshire legal community well; firstly as Vice President of the Society in 2010/11 and 2011/12 and then as President in 2012/13. It was only Sarah’s move to Roythornes in Spalding as a Partner in their Wealth Protection Team in 2015 which brought her involvement with Council to an end. However, Sarah still kept a keen interest in NLS from the wilds of Lincolnshire and as anyone who ever met her would say, once met never forgotten. Sarah was also an enthusiastic and effective Trustee of Northamptonshire Community Foundation and Lincolnshire Community Foundation. However, Sarah is probably best remembered by her clients for her thoughtful and personal advice which helped many of them through difficult times. This she did quietly with her trademark humour, compassion and humanity. News of Sarah’s untimely and cruel death at the age of 40 from Melanoma on 19th January this year still doesn’t seem real. Naturally, a flood of messages of sympathy have reached Sarah’s beloved husband Alex, all of which I read and in them,
immediately recognised the loving, funny, vivacious force of nature that was Sarah. How can this force of nature no longer be with us? Sarah’s former colleagues will testify that her response to such maudlin thoughts would be characteristically blunt, with demands that each and every one of us celebrate the good and positive things in life (Mood Hoovers not allowed!). Celebrating is something that Sarah continued to do, even through the bad times following her initial diagnosis in 2014 and the rollercoaster of treatment, improvements and setbacks which followed for the following six years. Indeed, in September 2019, Sarah described her latest scan results as being “less than ideal”, but rejoiced in what had been a summer of hope; a new house, a madcap puppy called Sunny and of course the joy she found in having her loving family and friends around her. As we said goodbye to Sarah on 28th February at Peterborough Crematorium, Alex asked that people wear a flash of red, Sarah’s favourite colour and very typically Sarah. Donations can be made to Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall in Peterborough in memory of Sarah and the fantastic care she received from the hospice during her last months and Melanoma UK, a charity which spearheads initiatives designed to benefit and support Melanoma Patients and their families. Rhona Rowland President Northamptonshire Law Society 2010-2012
