From Tim Pare - Son

Re Mum:

She was born in 1918 in Cape Town moving with her family to the UK at around the age of nine.

Initially they lived near Bath later moving to Tetbury when following schooling Mum trained at the Bristol Royal Infirmary later becoming a senior theatre sister there before moving to Cornwall to work as a district nurse, a position she loved.

The Tetbury years were not easy either in the family context or in having to cope with the tragic loss of her younger brother Bobby at age 18.

I believe that a number of factors at that time were formative in terms of her general ability to cope with most anything that later came her way.

She was a remarkable woman in so many ways & although my own memories of things ‘Choir School’ are sketchy one cannot fail to be aware of the impact that she as part of a devoted team with my father clearly had.

A testament to this being the extent to which all of you still keep in touch, the representation at Mum’s funeral, etc - all of this is exceptional & can be seen as such even by a relative onlooker such as me.

Her ability to cope with the aftermath of Dad’s untimely death, the house moves, the endlessly stretched finances & demands of Chris & me has been second to none.

Chris has had his own share of tragedy to deal with & here again she was selfless in the level of support & love.

A true example of willpower & determination in adversity. Also someone with a real love of adventure, travel, etc.

It was typical of her forethought that she had not only devised her own funeral service but that sometime ago had prepared the most sensitive & thoughtful of letters for Chris & me to help us to deal with a loss she would know to be hard.

The letters reflect her constant support for what we are & do but more importantly her unquestioning faith - something so impressive simply because it was based in no sense on naivety about life’s perils.

In all, therefore, a true carer ................ & also someone who knew how to make a great gin & tonic!