Mrs Rhea Anthony, known to many as Vger, passed away at home on the 30th April 2012 at the age of 62 after a long illness with cancer. Rhea was a truly inspirational woman, never afraid to pursue her own path and always happy to help others. She will be deeply missed.
Her life story began in Wales, where she grew up in a typical small mining town. She trained as psychiatric nurse and came to Norfolk as psychiatric community nurse based at Hellesdon. Later in life she pursued her love of computers and the internet, and co-founded TerraNetwork in the early years of the new millennium.
Rhea was an active and outspoken participant in the osCommerce and Zen Cart projects. The ethos of sharing code freely and helping each other very much appealed to her old socialist roots. Whilst she had her disagreements over the years, her aim was always to make code widely accessible and to improve it.
A side of her which will be lesser known on the net is her love of music and guitars. In her younger years she played in a band which covered music by The Shadows. She could read/write sheet music and wrote her own guitar pieces for folk and classical guitar. Rhea was also an active member of the Norwich LGBT community, where she co-organised Spring Fest 1995 and later co-founded the WoW “Women on Women” charity. TerraNetwork continues to be proud sponsor of the Norwich Gay Pride website.
Rhea’s ashes will be laid to rest at a woodland burial in Norwich. It was her wish not to receive any flowers, but instead she requested donations to charities supporting children, especially Barnardo’s and GOSH (Great Ormond St Hospital). Anyone who wishes to make a donation can either do so directly on the charity websites, or until 15th June send cheques made payable to either charity to Ivan Fisher Funeral Home, The Old Bank, 2-4 Norwich Road, Aylsham, Norfolk, NR11 6BN (donation fund will be closed after 15th June and donations evenly split between the two charities).
Sad news indeed. My best wishes to you and her loved ones.
Really sorry to hear this news. May her legacy live long and prosper…
This is indeed very sad news. I had not realised just how severe Rhea’s illness was. Many, many thousands of people have benefitted (and will continue to benefit) from her work on OpenSource eCommerce projects and she was truly committed to the principle of OS and how it ought to benefit everyone.
Our condolences to her family, colleagues and friends.
Grahame Palmer
The Brite Factory.
We are really sorry to hear of Rhea’s passing – she was always helpful and happy to share her knowledge. She will be truly missed by us here at ROQSOLID.
Our condolences to her loved ones, friends and her TerraNetwork extended family.
Thinking of you all at this time.
Bryn Towns & The ROQSOLID Team
My condolences- sad news indeed.
Brinley
I have had a lot of assistance from Rhea and I shared her views about osC. It influenced my work and visions of e-commerce, it will continue to do so, times to come.
My condolences to her loved ones, friends, family and to you Edith.
Sara
Sorry to hear of the sad news.
Everyone at Terranetwork have given us the best support we’ve ever known and we would like to pass on our best wishes to all.
From all at Furness Trading – Be strong and take care. xx
My condolences to you and her loved ones.
I have, for some years now, appreciated the personal and dedicated service from Terranetworks and Rhea was very much a part of that philosophy.
With sincere best wishes,
Alex at Wick IT Services
My condolences to Rhea’s family, friends and TerraNetwork.
Vger was a clearly remarkable and inspirational lady who will be sadly missed by very many people.
Thinking of you
Ian – IJL Web Solutions
I only knew Rhea as a very dear friend, through music and WoW. I never realised she was held in such high regard for her IT work, and yet it doesn’t surprise me. She could turn her hand to anything. It’s lovely to see she will be remembered for so many things. She will be very missed.
This is very sad news. It was Rhea’s relentless work on osCommerce that gave me the impetus and confidence to sign up with Terranetwork.
May she rest in peace. Condolences to her family and friends.
Dean
My condolences to you and all her family and friends
Very sad news, I only ever had contact with Rhea via email but found her to be most helpful and had not realised she had been ill.
May she rest in peace.
Peter and all at Blankplastic
Very sad news to hear. Our thoughts go out to her friends and family.
I didn’t know Rhea in person, I knew her as the helpful, friendly and knowledgeable person who would help me out whenever a problem arose.
It feels like someone I know has passed.
Take care Rhea, you will be missed.
My deepest condolences to her family and friends.
My condolences-its very sad
When I was searching for a hosting company I called many. But as soon as I spoke to Rhea I forgot about the rest. I felt the service Rhea offered was a personal touch to all customers.
Thanks for all your help and support you have been a great help.
God bless
Sasha
GUC-Electronics
I am in comparison to many fairly new to the Terranetwork Family having only been with them for a couple of years. However, it was Rhea and you Edith that convinced me that there are good people around.
Through all my ignorance of the server side of IT both you and Rhea have endured and nothing I have thrown at either of you has ever ruffled your feathers. I am pleased that Terranetwork is to continue and I hope it will be a lasting legacy to you and Rhea.
Please accept mine and Rory’s condolences at this sad time and our thoughts go out to all her extended family and friends.
God Bless and my she rest in peace
Aaron
I am very sorry to hear of Rhea’s passing. I did not know her in person but spoke to her quite a number of times and found her to be brilliant. She was always extremely helpful and knowledgeable and would always go that extra mile.
I have been with Terranetwork for a few years now and found them to be an excellent company in all respects.
Please accept our very deepest sympathy at this very sad time. I am glad that the company will continue and to build on Rhea’s legacy. She will be greatly missed.
Kind regards
Diane Jones
I’m stunned .. just aweful news.
My condolences Edith.
Miss Rhea was kind enough to help us for over 1 year on our old store that was based on oscommerce, she was always there to help and improve our store… she will be missed!
Terriby sorry to hear of the news and condolenses.
She was always there to help.
Take care and hope you are well Edith.
Best
Alicia
Sincere condolences to you at this sad time.
Best Wishes Sallie W
Our condolences on this awful news, our thoughts are with you.
Best wishes,
Catriona & Carolanne
Kiddies Wardrobe
My condolences from Spain