Richard Branson and his mother Eve Branson
Clive Rose | Getty Images
LONDON – Virgin founder Richard Branson revealed that his mother, Eve, died of the coronavirus in a tribute blog on Monday.
Branson said Eve, who was 96 when she died, “held on to one last victory, managing to fight the virus, but spent all his energy in the process.”
However, Branson said that instead of mourning his loss, he wanted to “celebrate his wonderful life, his tremendous spirit, the joy she brought to so many, and the love she gave to all of us.”
In the dedication to his mother, Branson said he owed her career. He explained that Eve had found a necklace in the 1960s and after the police let her keep the jewelry because no one claimed it, she sold it and gave it away.
“Without those £ 100 ($ 135), I could never have founded Virgin,” said Branson, who founded the multi-billion dollar conglomerate in 1970.
Branson said that Eve and his father Edward, who passed away in 2011, taught him and his two sisters the “importance of hard work, of not taking yourself too seriously, of treating people the way you want to be treated, of entrepreneurship and a lot more.”
Virgin’s founder described his mother as a “force of nature” who lived “many remarkable lives”, sharing how she took glider lessons disguised as a boy. She also enlisted in the Royal Female Naval Service, known as “Wrens”, during World War II.
After the war, Eve toured Germany as a ballet dancer, performed on stage in London’s West End and worked as a stewardess on the “treacherous” routes on British South American Airways.
Branson said his mother was “inventive, fearless, relentless – a businesswoman before the word existed”.
Her mother was also the founder of the Eve Branson Foundation, a small non-profit organization that aims to improve the lives of women and girls in the Atlas Mountains, Morocco, by providing access to education and health care.