It was with great shock and sadness that we learned over the weekend of the death of a friend to OnTheWight, the Isle of Wight jazz singer, Edana Minghella.
For the last few years Edana has spent most of her time in Italy and it was from there that Edana’s partner, Heather, announced Edana had passed away on Wednesday night, aged 63.
A passionate, vivacious, woman of style
The family said,
“Edana asked us to respect her privacy in dealing with her devastating cancer diagnosis, so we know that this will be a shock to many of you.
“Edana would have wanted you to remember her as we all do: the passionate, vivacious woman of style, love, joy, song, curiosity and furious politics.”
Her funeral was held in Pugliola, Italy on Saturday morning, but there will be a memorial service for Edana in the UK. We’ll let you know details once they are confirmed.
Well known for her work in mental health services
As well as being more widely known as a jazz singer, Edana (Dr Minghella) worked for many years in the mental health sector and was an advocate for improving early dementia diagnosis.
Edana had been an associate at the National Development for Inclusion and worked as an independent consultant.
Remembering Edana
Edana’s brother Dominic has set up a space on his Website where comments can be tributes can be left to remember Edana by.
We first met Edana at the Minghella Film Festival over a decade ago and quickly became friends via social media. She was all of the things described by her family, as well as caring and compassionate.
Our sincerest thoughts go out to all of Edana’s family and her very wide reach of friends and former colleagues.
Image: © Ian Mitchell
