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Anna Greaves (formerly McEvoy), taught 1973 - 2001
Languages (French & Italian)
The fifth of six children, Anna Di Lorenzo was born in the city of Chieti, in the Abruzzi region of Italy in 1942 during the Second World War. Her family lived on the top floor of a three-storey house on the outskirts of the city. There were frequent air-raids and one night, when she was 3 months old, the family were taking refuge in their air-raid shelter and a bomb caused severe damage to the house and destroyed the cot she would have otherwise been sleeping in. Shortly afterwards the family moved to Pianella, a village in the countryside about 20km from the city, not returning to Chieti until after the end of the war. Later, when she was 13 years old, Anna made a little money selling scrap metal from the bombs, scavenged from the local fields.
Anna and her brothers and sisters were not at all well-off and were often left to their own devices. Anna usually had no breakfast, one pair of shoes a year, had her first photograph taken at the age of 11 and didn't have a toothbrush until her 20s! Coming from such humble beginnings stayed long in her memory and Anna ensured that her own family were well-cared for with plenty of love & affection, books & toys.
Schooling in Italy was basic at the time and Anna was the only of her siblings to go to University. Whilst there she had experience in teaching in Abruzzo middle schools two years in a row, starting in Villalfonsina in 1963 and Fara San Martino in 1964. Following that she decided to move to Lucenay in France, where her family had been living for some time, and she had been going on holiday since the age of 15. There Anna studied a top-level course in French Language and Civilisation at Lyon University.
Family life turned out not to be all roses, so she decided to move to England in 1966, unable to speak a word of English! She became an au-pair in Oxford after an hour-long interview by the British Immigration officers, demanding to know why she wanted to move to the UK. It was at this point that Anna had her first cup of tea with milk, which she loved, but the job turned out to be a gruelling 6 months. She did however meet Denis McEvoy, who became her first husband and she soon had her first child, her son Max. They moved to Berinsfield about 20 miles from Oxford a few months later. Unfortunately the marriage did not last as the couple were very different in their outlooks on life.
Anna applied for a job teaching Italian with French at The Meadway school in 1973, got the job and started in September that year. She found the teaching there quite challenging but made many friendships with the other teachers, some lasting the rest of her life. She ended up being the longest-serving teacher at the school and had worked there for 28 years when it closed in 2001. She was loved by almost everyone she taught - strict but loving and caring with a great sense of humour. She attended a number of school reunions, including an all-school event at the Meadway Sports Centre in 2002.
It was in Reading that Anna met her second husband, Stephen Greaves, in 1975. The marriage marked the start of stability, love and a good standard of living in her life. They were blessed with two daughters - Julia and Maria, the latter who gave Anna her granddaughter Astrid.
Sadly Anna was plagued by ill-health in the later years of her life and suffered from Parkinsons for many years. This did not stop her from writing a number of books including a whole series for children. You can read more about her upbringing and life in her autobiography: "IN ADVERSITY THERE IS HOPE: An Epic Life Journey" (2019).
RIP Anna Greaves 1942 - 2024
You can read Anna's memories of the school here.