ANNE COPELAND (neé Reynolds) passed away peacefully at home in Raheny, Dublin, surrounded by her family, on August 2nd. Anne was born on December 4th, 1952, to parents Anna and Michael Reynolds, in Gortletteragh, Co Leitrim, where the Reynolds clan have resided since the 7th century.
Anne’s early education was in her local parish school in Gortletteragh. She secured a scholarship to the Convent of Mercy Secondary College in Longford and completed her third-level education at Beaufort College in Rathfarnham, Dublin.
Having experienced the devastation a stroke wrought on her father, for almost three decades Anne devoted herself to helping stroke survivors achieve a better quality of life. Initially she was a lone crusader in the quest for action to tackle chronic deficits in stroke services and supports. Her tenacity and sheer force of personality forced official Ireland to sit up and take notice.
After joining the fledgling Volunteer Stroke Scheme (VSS) to help ferry stroke patients with no means of transport to and from support-group meetings, she quickly became a driving force behind the organisation. Anne eventually took on the role of chairwoman, developing the VSS into the biggest and most influential organisation providing support to survivors of stroke in Ireland, where the disease is our third-biggest killer.
Because of her efforts, thousands of stroke survivors in Dublin have received crucial support and rehabilitation in the aftermath of a disease that, more than any other, can isolate its victims, remove their dignity and obliterate their quality of life.
Anne also gave vital assistance to other support groups that have since been established across Ireland, using the VSS to provide these groups with the expertise and experience needed to survive their difficult early stages.
Under Anne’s leadership the VSS played a crucial role in uniting stroke physicians, nurses, therapists, patients and volunteers under the banner of the Irish Heart Foundation’s Stroke Council. As a member of the council from its inception, Anne was a key contributor to the development of the campaign that is now saving lives and transforming the quality of life of stroke survivors in Ireland.
Anne was driven by the desire to ensure that people struck down by stroke could still lead a fulfilling life. Thankfully, the stroke community got the opportunity to show its gratitude in a small way through the Stroke Champion Award, which she received at the Irish Heart Foundation’s inaugural Irish Stroke Awards last November for her unsurpassed contribution to the cause of stroke survivors.
Her real reward was knowing that she used her life to save the lives of so many others and her legacy is the greatly improved acute stroke services that will continue to make a vital difference for so many people in the future. Anne’s kindness and dedication to everybody’s needs endeared her to all who had the good fortune to experience her caring ways. She will be sadly missed, but never forgotten, by all who had the privilege to know and work with her.
She was interred in Farnaught Cemetery, Gortletteragh, Co Leitrim in a plot used by her family since Famine times. A devoted wife and mother, she is survived by her loving husband Adrian, whom she married in 1978, and their adored sons, Aaron and Adrian.
May she rest in peace.
– MOS