Lawyer and mum-of-two Hannah Alexander died suddenly and unexpectedly was “woven into the fabric of Stratford”

Mourners and well-wishers lined the route as her funeral cortege made its way along Sheep Street, passing the town hall where a flag was flown at half-mast in her honour, and out through the town. Following a private committal, a memorial service was held at Alveston Manor.

This week, Hannah’s husband, Joe Alexander, 39, and mum, Rachel Faulkner, 64, spoke to the Herald about their grief, while sharing precious memories of their brilliant wife and daughter.

The nature of Hannah’s passing – “out of the blue” and from suspected cardiac arrest, although that has yet to be confirmed – has left her family reeling and “still numb”.

Joe and Hannah met at Alcester Grammar School in Year 8. Friends for many years, they realised their love for one another after getting together following university.

They went on to have two daughters, Evie, eight, and Erin, four. It is the girls that are uppermost in Joe’s mind as he describes the impact of Hannah’s sudden death.

“I can’t change the outcome, but the philosophical bit of me is grateful it wasn’t in front of the children,” says Joe thoughtfully. “Before she collapsed a good friend had been in to see her on a work matter. They said she was laughing and joking and looked fantastic. She was with people who cared for her and was immediately given help. The paramedics and air ambulance stayed for two and half hours, they were intent on saving her, and I am grateful for that,” continues Joe. “As painful as it is to tell the girls, and have to go through that with them, they’ve managed and have been so resilient. Mum’s not come home, but they haven’t had to watch her decline and succumb to anything. They have positive memories of her, so there is comfort in that.”

Hannah was born at the Monroe Devis maternity hospital in Tiddington in October 1984. Her maternal family have lived in the Stratford area for generations, and she was particularly close to her mum and younger sisters, Shelley and Lucy.

“Hannah was somebody that everybody including myself would go to. She was pivotal to our family,” says Rachel. “They were close as a trio – and I was a single parent for a while, they were my Three Musketeers and could be quite a formidable trio.”

A bookworm and fiercely clever, Hannah decided at a young age she would study law.

“She was information hungry and had harboured ambitions to be a lawyer from before I met her,” says Joe. “She qualified when she was 25 – and the day she qualified she said I’ve achieved my life’s ambition.”

Rachel recalls how she found learning effortlessly easy. “She never seemed to revise and she devoured books. She would read tens of pages in minutes and if you questioned her about the information she knew it all. The last Harry Potter book is 784 pages and she read the whole thing in eight hours – including breaks for lunch and refreshments.”

Hannah was also passionate about baking, and would frequently offer to bake cakes for anyone who needed one. But crucially Hannah was an unsung hero of the community – often to be found volunteering and lending her legal expertise whenever possible.

“She was involved in so many things,” says Joe as he struggles to recount them all. “She did a lot of trustee roles for charity, including the Parenting Project. Most recently she was chair of trustees at Clopton Nursery, and loved doing that, and was a governor at Thomas Jolyffe. When the Ken Kennett Centre closed she offered her legal services for free.

“She volunteered for Rubbish Friends, and would cajole Evie and Erin into going out on litter-picks.”

Joe continues: “She was a fixer and a doer. During lockdown she set up Clopton Alphabet Hunt where she made laminated letters and stuck them around lampposts and road signs as she wanted to give families something to do.”

Rachel recalls: “Being kind and making a difference was just intrinsic to her. Currently in Tesco’s charity collection there’s a blue token slot for the Thomas Jolyffe school uniform fund – for families struggling financially – Hannah had set that up.”

Hannah did none of this for glory or thanks.

“She didn’t want any plaudits for doing anything, that wasn’t her – she would pin the thanks on someone else,” says Joe. “There were countless things she did. If you walked around town with her an incredible number of people would talk to her. She was so well known, liked and respected.”

Hannah’s kindness and popularity means the family have been overwhelmed by words of support and message from people far and wide.

“It’s been phenomenal,” says Rachel. “It feels like a loss to the community as well as the family. Hannah was woven into the fabric of Stratford.”

Hannah had been due to start a new position in a Birmingham law firm on Monday (19th February).

Joe explains: “She had been very conflicted about leaving Robert Lunn & Lowth, she loved being there and the people. For one reason and another she decided to try something else. It was heart-wrenching for her, she felt like she was letting people down – that was her all over, never selfish always thinking of others.”

He continues: “So many of Hannah’s friends said she was their go-to person for important things, and she was a mentor to junior colleagues at work – and she would help easily and gladly. She packed a lot into her short life. The thing that bothers me the most is her potential and how she had so much more to give to everybody. She had big plans for this year and beyond, and she won’t get to fulfil that. The biggest wrench is the things she won’t get to do, that’s the hardest bit for me, besides missing her and wanting her to be around.”

As a mum, Hannah has left a lasting living legacy – in her wonderful daughters.

“Evie is the clone of her mum,” smiles Joe. “She loves reading and baking. Erin has her cheeky humour. But both the girls have Hannah’s kindness, compassion and care for other people.

“Last year during sports day Evie stopped running the race she was winning to help a boy who’d fallen – that was very like her mum, not bothered about her own benefit.”

While recollections of happier times with Hannah animate conversation, both Rachel and Joe are aware of the grief that is never far away.

“I’m numb,” says Rachel. “Hannah and I were quite nocturnal so a lot of nights, around 10.30pm to 11pm, would be when we checked in with each other; and that’s when it’s hard.

“How do you build in that time to grieve when it’s been so sudden? It’s helpful to have the distraction of two young daughters… but Joe’s protector was Hannah, and we can’t substitute her,” adds Rachel.

Joe has taken time out from his work in advertising to dedicate himself to full-time parenting.

“My life outside of home has paused,” says Joe. “All I’m focusing on is home – making sure the house is clean, the washing machine is on. Hannah was organised and used to do a lot of that but her list is still on the wall. She set the template, and I’m carrying on, she’s guiding me, which helps. She was my protector and my guide. I could do the big stuff but not the detail, she was phenomenal.”

The girls are also the reason Joe has to get out of bed every day. “We are very open about speaking about Hannah and how they are feeling – in an age-appropriate way. We focus on doing things – and it doesn’t need to have a tinge of sadness attached,” he says.

The memories of happier times are still strong: picking a tree up at Christmas, meeting Santa at Magic Alley, family holidays on wind-blown Cornish beaches… and Hannah smiling.

“Last May we went away, the two of us, for our tenth anniversary to Bath,” remembers Joe. “I’ve never seen Hannah look so happy, she came back just glowing and it was brilliant. All of our happiest memories are just the four of us going out spending time together. We would go to Hidcote Gardens and have a photo taken on the same big rock each visit. And we couldn’t pass the Shakespeare statue in Henley Street without Hannah snapping a picture of us in front of it. She adored the girls, she was at her happiest spending time with us.”

Rachel and Joe would like to thank AE Bennett & Sons, Alveston Manor, the emergency services and the air ambulance, and everyone who has reached out to them.