THE heartbroken husband of one of the founders of Kidderminster’s Kemp Hospice has paid tribute to his “caring” wife following her death.

Teresa Grantham died in Mary Stevens Hospice in Stourbridge, aged 86, following a battle with a degenerative lung disease.

She died in November and her 91-year-old husband Peter has been grieving since. But, speaking to The Shuttle, he paid tribute to his wife who he said gave her life over to caring for others.

Kemp’s roots are traced back to 1969 when Mrs Grantham and her friends The Reverend Jennifer Binnian and solicitor Betty Davies began a prayer group in Wolverley which met regularly.

The group grew and Kemp House Trust was formed in 1980 before it was registered as a charity the following year.

It has since supported hundreds of people and their families who are dealing with life limiting illnesses and bereavement.

Mr Grantham said: “Her whole life was given over to caring for others and she and her friends set up the Kemp Hospice charity and the umbrella group that looked after bereaved partners.

“But her caring role began long before that as her first job was to pay pensions to the people in the old Workhouse in Sutton Road. It turned her into a lifelong socialist along with her brother Jim.

“Her caring became more poignant because she helped care for her father, who died from lung cancer, and her sister Patsie who died from breast cancer. This was all while looking after her mother, in-laws, myself and out two sons.”

Mr Grantham added that his wife, a Roman Catholic, joined a prayer group which led her into the Charismatic Renewal spiritual group that saw her meet her co-founders.

He said: “She realised people left behind after a death also needed help and, although it became a self-help group, it was much appreciated by all who joined it.

“She took her listening ear with her when she went into the last two hospices, although she knew she was dying.

“It was a lovely tribute to her that so many people attended her funeral mass and cremation, which is a wonderful consolation to her family.”

Kemp’s current chief executive Heidi Hawkins said: “Kemp’s roots are firmly in the community and we have Teresa and the other founder members of the hospice to thank for this.

“We owe her a huge debt of gratitude for bringing Kemp to life and on behalf of all of us here, and those who have benefitted from the services we provide, I would like to say how grateful we are to Teresa. Kemp looks forward to a successful future.”