A Facebook page has been started to honour Aromatherapy Associates co-founder and industry icon Geraldine Howard, who died on 7 January after a long battle with cancer.

The group, which at time of writing has 81 members, is intended to be a way for people in the spa industry to honour her memory, posting messages about their thoughts and feelings about the much-loved Howard.

The public page was started by members of the Global Wellness Summit, and includes this opening message:

“Geraldine Howard touched so many people, professionally and personally. She was a close friend of the Global Wellness Summit and we are proud to have honored her with the Leading Woman in Wellness award in 2015, and to have shared her thoughts and feelings at our Summit through video. Please feel free to share your thoughts and feelings about Geraldine on this tribute page, creating a huge, global hug for our beautiful, dear friend.”

Tributes have already begun to flood in on the page, along with videos of Howard speaking about her life’s work.

Sammy Gharieni, CEO and founder of spa equipment manufacturer Gharieni, detailed how proud he was to present Howard with the Leading Woman in Wellness award at the Global Wellness Summit in November.

“I was confident that she will be with us in Austria,” he said on the page, referring to the 2016 Global Wellness Summit, set to take place in October in Tirol. “Yes – she will be with us everywhere in our hearts.”