Eve Branson

Evette Huntley Branson (née Flindt; 12 July 1924 – 8 January 2021)[4] was a British philanthropist, child welfare advocate, and the mother of Richard Branson.[5]

Eve Branson
Branson in 2013
Born
Evette Huntley Flindt[1]

(1924-07-12)12 July 1924[2][3]
Edmonton, Middlesex, England
Died8 January 2021(2021-01-08) (aged 96)
United Kingdom
Occupation(s)Founder and director of the Eve Branson Foundation
Philanthropist
Child welfare advocate
Board member ofInternational Centre for Missing & Exploited Children
Spouse
Ted Branson
​
​
(m. 1949; died 2011)​
Children3, including Richard and Vanessa
Websiteevebransonfoundation.org.uk

Life and career

Branson was born in Edmonton, Middlesex, England, the daughter of Dorothy Constance (née Jenkins) (19 June 1898 - August 1997) and Major Rupert Ernest Huntley Flindt (11 St Faith's-road, West Norwood, 28 December 1890 - 19 October 1966).[1][6] As a young adult, she served in the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRENS) during World War II. After the war ended, she toured West Germany as a ballet dancer with Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA).[7][8] She later became an airline hostess for British South American Airways. After marrying, Branson ran a real estate property business and was a military police officer and probation officer. She also wrote novels and children's books.[5]

In 2013 Branson published her autobiography, Mum's the Word: The High-Flying Adventures of Eve Branson.[9]

Eve Branson with the board of directors of the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children

Branson established the Eve Branson Foundation and served as its director.[5]

Branson was a member of the board of directors of the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children ("ICMEC"), the goal of which is to help find missing children, and to stop the exploitation of children.[10][11] She was a founding member of ICMEC's board of directors in 1999, seeking to generate awareness of the centre's work, and her son Richard was ICMEC's founding sponsor.[11][12]

Personal life and death

She married, in Frimley, Surrey, on 15 October 1949, Edward James "Ted" Branson, born on 10 March 1918, a former Cavalryman, son of Sir George Arthur Harwin Branson and wife Mona Joyce Bailey.[13] He died on 19 March 2011 in his sleep at the age of 93.[8]

In 2011, Branson escaped a fire at her son's Caribbean home on Necker Island.[14]

Branson died from COVID-19 complications on 8 January 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom at the age of 96.[15][16] A celebration of her life was posted online by her son Richard.[17] He revealed that he owed his career to his mother, explaining that she had found a necklace in the 1960s and after the police let her keep the jewellery, because nobody had claimed it, she sold it and gave him the funds. "Without that £100, I could never have started Virgin," he said.[18]

Legacy

The VMS Eve the carrier mothership for Virgin Galactic and launch platform for SpaceShipTwo-based Virgin SpaceShips (Tail number: N348MS[19]) was named in her honour by Virgin Galactic and her son Sir Richard Branson.[20]

A new Airbus A350-1000, G-VEVE - Fearless Lady has been named in her honour and will be delivered to Virgin Atlantic in December 2021 as the first aircraft optimised for the airline's leisure routes.

References
  1. Finding Your Roots, 2 February 2016, PBS
  2. "Richard Branson's blog". Virgin.com. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  3. Mum's the Word: The High-Flying Adventures of Eve Branson, 2013, p. 4
  4. "Eve Branson obituary". The Times. 12 January 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2021.(subscription required)
  5. "Eve's Story". The Eve Branson Foundation. Archived from the original on 16 October 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  6. Mum's the Word: The High-Flying Adventures of Eve Branson, 2013, p. 3
  7. McKeever, Vicky (11 January 2021). "Richard Branson reveals his mom — who helped him start Virgin — has died from Covid". CNBC. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  8. "Eve Branson talks to Saga Magazine". Saga Magazine. 28 February 2013. Archived from the original on 17 September 2013. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  9. Branson, Eve (16 January 2013). Mum's the Word: The High-Flying Adventures of Eve Branson. AuthorHouse. ISBN 9781477245835 – via Google Books.
  10. "ICMEC Board Members" Archived 3 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine. icmec.org.
  11. Eve Branson (2013) Mum's the Word, p. 207.
  12. "International Children's Organization Expands Global Reach With Four New Board Members" Archived 29 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine. icmec.org.
  13. "Ancestry of Sir Richard Branson". www.wargs.com.
  14. Day, Elizabeth (20 July 2014). "Eve Branson: 'I was not saved by Kate Winslet!'". The Guardian.
  15. Rocks, Chelsea. "Eve Branson: who was Richard Branson's mum who has died of Covid - and the Virgin founder's tribute to her". The Scotsman. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  16. "Richard Branson's mother dies of Covid-19". CNN Business. 11 January 2021.
  17. "Celebrating my mum, Eve Branson | Virgin". Virgin News. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  18. "Richard Branson Reveals His Mom — Who Helped Him Start Virgin — Has Died From Covid". NBC. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  19. "FAA N Number Registration for "Eve"". Archived from the original on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
  20. Gorman, Steve (12 July 2021). "Billionaire Branson soars to space aboard Virgin Galactic flight". Reuters.
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