A Last Word on Lynne Lewis

The family had plenty of time to consider Mum and her life as there were precisely three weeks between her passing and the funeral. This gap of course was caused by Christmas and the New Year, but even the date set for her funeral on 8th January became in some doubt, when I was ’phoned the day before by Longhurst to say that Randalls Park was, like the rest of southern England, akin to an ice rink and that health and safety considerations would have to apply. In the end, of course, it went ahead as planned. However, because of the weather, a lot of people from some distance away ’phoned to say they could not make it to the funeral. I think it true to say that enough people attended to give Mum the goodbye she wanted. Basically, she wanted to go out with a bang! I think it also true to say that it was fitting that her departure was among friends of long standing within Epsom URC. This was where Mum and Dad were at their happiest and most fulfilled.

Chris and I were remembering very recently Mum at a Saturday coffee morning a couple of years ago, when she was 94, selling cakes at a stall and standing all the time, thoroughly in her element, enjoying every chat and being fully engrossed in the business of being part of the WCC once again. She loved being part of a team which the WCC enabled her to be and was fully involved in its social aspect. She was there by grit and determination as, by this time, things were not at their best and worse was to follow with her fall which caused the initial break in her hip. The consequence of this was going to plague her for the rest of her life, but an opportunity provided by Andrew Cobb and his team at Epsom Hospital for a full hip replacement gave her some respite. When she went into hospital for the last time, I did not realise how ill she was, but at the end, the palliative care team at the hospital allowed her to slip away just before midnight on the 18th December.

It is quite a peculiar feature about hospitals that they refer to patients by their full name and not by any derivative or pet name. So Dad became David - one male nurse even called him Dave - and Mum became Adeline - or in the lovely intonation of a Philippino nurse - Adeleen! She quickly reached a rapport with all the staff and they appreciated her calm approach to her illness. She had had plenty of opportunities for establishing rapports with staff and fellow patients with the number of times she was admitted into hospitals and nursing homes over the past couple of years. She did genuinely appreciate the efforts being made on her behalf. 

Despite the weather on the 8th January, a number of people did make it from a considerable distance. I am thinking about Rowland, Mum's nephew from North Wales and Mair (Mum's niece) and Vernon still living in the same village near Bridgend where Mum was born on 23rd March 1913. I am thinking about Antony who came down from Northampton and Eleanor from Wantage. Mum's life was also celebrated by representatives from Walton on the Hill URC where Dad was part-time minister between 1980 and 1987. I also received letters of sympathy from Shipley URC and there are still a couple in Halifax who remember them, although we left there in 1956. I am sure Mum would also have liked to have shown her appreciation to David Skitt and Nigel Uden for braving the elements and contributing so significantly to her funeral. And the members of the Women's Church Council who once again did such sterling work on her behalf; Chris, Ceri and I say a massive Thank You. Yes, there is a gap in our lives. For that, in particular, I am thinking of Claire, who was such a great support to Mum and who established a close relationship with her. For mum, who famously said that she had to leave Dad at home in bed with the carer, go in peace.