TRIBUTES have been paid to “one of the best public servants Monmouthshire has ever had” who died on Monday. 

Sheila Woodhouse had twice been chairperson of Monmouthshire County Council, where she represented Abergavenny’s Grofield ward, and was mayor of her hometown in 2013/14. 

Her husband Chris served as a town and county councillor, and Abergavenny mayor in 2004, while she had been his consort when he chaired the county council, in 2007 more than a decade before she held the post. 

As well as chairing the council Mrs Woodhouse had been the chair of the council’s Conservative group. 

Tory leader Councillor Richard John said: “It was a real privilege to have had the opportunity of working with Sheila as Monmouthshire councillors. She was a much loved and respected member of our team. She was a source of wisdom and had a fun sense of humour.” 

The Mitchell Troy and Trellech member added: “Uniquely, Sheila was chair of Monmouthshire County Council for two years running – a role she relished and performed superbly.  Sheila was also chair of the Conservative group on the council while I was leader of the authority and I will always be grateful to have had the benefit of her counsel, support and advice. 

“We will all miss her as will so many residents in Abergavenny and beyond. I feel privileged to have known Sheila and she will be remembered as one of the best public servants Monmouthshire has ever had.” 

Cllr John described his former colleague as “well known in Abergavenny” and paid tribute to the couple’s service: “She was incredibly passionate about her town and she and Chris have been phenomenal ambassadors for both the town and county as a whole in the various roles they have held over the years.” 

Mrs Woodhouse was elected to the county council in 2017, serving until 2022, and chaired the authority from 2019 through to 2021. 

Council chief executive Paul Matthews said Mrs Woodhouse had been ill “for several months” and had “passed peacefully”. 

He paid tribute to how she chaired the authority during the Covid pandemic and “support and strength” she had provided him and “many others”. 

Mr Matthews said: “Sheila was a member of several council committees and was involved in more voluntary activity than I can come close to cataloguing. 

“Sheila knew what it meant to be a Monmouthshire County Councillor. She loved her ward and her town of Abergavenny with a passion but always understood that at times she had to see a bigger picture. She was always prepared to do so. She was calm, kind, caring and welcoming. As good an ambassador as we have ever had particularly in her years as first citizen, a role that she felt honoured to hold.” 

He also said he had enjoyed council meetings she chaired: “I loved it. I got to see the warmth of a very special woman. More than that I got to see the depth of her professionalism born of an earlier career in the Post Office. Sheila had standards and you just always wanted to match them. On many an occasion after chairing a council meeting Sheila would ask me ‘Did I do ok’. She wanted to do her best. My answer was always ‘you were perfect’ – I just felt she was.” 

Mr Matthews said he would be passing on the authority’s condolences to Chris, their family and friends and would be there to support them “in any way they wish over the coming weeks and months”.