Gill Stoker, 1954⁠–⁠2024

Gill passed away in February, 2024. Learn about her remarkable life, including her interests, achievements, education, and career. - Please send donations in memory of Gill to St Christopher’s Hospice here: - Poems and Pictures: - Obituary for Gill in The Guardian: - Obituary for Gill from Mary Evans Picture Library: - The Richard Stoker Trust, established by Gill: - Obituary for Gill’s husband, Richard Stoker, in The Guardian: - Gill’s thesis on Sir John Tenniel: This video was co-written and produced by Josh from EngVid. Thank you to the two fellow EngVid teachers who worked on this video: Rebecca Ezekiel @engvidRebecca for writing and making the announcement at the beginning of the video, and Benjamin @engvidBenjamin of Hone Your English for his very helpful edits and for narrating Gill’s life story. Thank you also to the friends and family in Gill’s support group who provided feedback and pictures, especially Frances, Sarah, Lucia, and Irena. Very special thanks to Mark, who provided guidance, many pictures, and help along the way, and whose obituaries for Gill were drawn from extensively in writing this video. “Fire and Rain” was originally written and performed by James Taylor. Gill wrote and recorded many videos for EngVid before her illness. She wished that these lessons would be seen, and so they will be published as normal on her channel over the course of the coming year. Please note that this video is not monetized by EngVid. Any advertising appearing with the video is not under our control. Donations received by EngVid on behalf of Gill’s channel will be passed on to St Christopher’s Hospice. Goodbye, Gill. In this video: 0:00 Gill Stoker, 1954–2024 1:47 Gill’s early life and education 2:26 Gill moves to London 3:00 Gill meets Richard Stoker 3:36 Gill’s community involvement 3:49 Gill’s career 4:25 Gill’s acting 5:02 Gill teaches English 5:26 Gill joins EngVid 5:56 Gill’s passion for poetry 6:28 Richard Stoker passes away 6:44 What was Gill like? 7:16 Give to charity in Gill’s memory 7:50 Gill & Richard Stoker perform “Fire and Rain“ by James Taylor TRANSCRIPT: I’m here today to share some very sad news. Our dearest colleague, your teacher Gill, passed away in London, England in February 2024. The year before that, Gill had received a diagnosis of brain cancer. She handled the news with strength, with courage, and with peace of mind. She even continued to plan lessons and organize poetry events in her area. In the past year, Gill was supported by friends and family, and in the final stages was provided excellent care by St. Christopher’s Hospice. For those of you who may be interested in giving a donation, Gill had advised that this donation could go to St. Christopher’s Hospice. We will provide details in the video description below. Gill was not only a teacher; she was also a musician, an actor, and a champion of the arts in her community. For those of you who have followed Gill’s lessons over the past nine years, we have created for you a video, not only in honor of her memory, but also so that you can get a sense of her rich life, her many talents, and her unique contributions in so many different fields. My name is Rebecca, and I’m another teacher here at EngVid. On behalf of the entire EngVid family, which includes all of you, I’d just like to say with all my heart, thank you, Gill. We’ll miss you. May you rest in peace. A few words about my colleague Gill. Gill was born in 1954 in Derby, an industrial town in the middle of England. She was studious from a young age and had a desire to learn and to broaden her horizons. She loved classical as well as pop music and sang her entire life. But her parents did not approve of pop music at home, and they weren’t supportive of her applying to university. They pushed her to secretarial college, but even there she managed to add supplementary courses in French and took singing classes as well. At the age of 20, Gill moved on her own to London to audition for the Royal College of Music. Though she was not admitted, she stayed in the city and joined several choirs, supporting herself with jobs at a software company and at the Royal Opera House. Through the 1980s, while working full-time, Gill earned degrees in English and art history, completing a PhD with a thesis on Sir John Tenniel, who is known most famously for his Alice in Wonderland illustrations. […]