Tributes paid to Plymouth council officer and Dr Who fanatic who has died
Tributes have been paid to an “unassuming and well-respected” council official who has died.
Stella Royal worked as a Plymouth City Council clerical officer since 1998, spending the last seven years with the safeguarding children board at Midland House.
She is understood to have suffered a heart attack.
In a message to staff, PCC head of service, quality and assurance Siobhan Wallace said: “Stella was a valued colleague and whilst a quiet person, she provided a huge amount of support to the safeguarding board, her colleagues and our partners.
Stella’s colleagues, Ann Rogers, Caroline Jones and Michelle Newman, added in a statement: “Stella was a well-respected member of the team and will be greatly missed by staff who knew her not only at the council but also across all of our partner agencies.
“Stella had an incredibly dry sense of humour and was a great fan of sci-fi but especially loved Dr Who.
“She was a talented musician who liked to play the bass guitar she was also a keen photographer, had written a couple of novels and was a computer whizz-kid.”
Tony Staunton, trade union campaigner and Stella’s former colleague, wrote on social media: “So very sad to lose my long-standing workmate Stella Royal, whose alter-ego as a Time Lord ensures she is now in a different dimension.
“An accomplished musician, skilled database programmer, unassuming observer of life and fantastic photographer, she also had the most extensive museum of Daleks ever collected in a private homestead.
“After every challenge she has met in life, and all the service she offered as a council worker, she deserved a lovely retirement.”