In loving memory of Catherine (Kate) Lawlor aged 74 years of Halwill who sadly passed away on 23rd May 2022 at the RD & E Hospital.
Beloved Wife of John, Loving Mum of Ross & Carys, Grandma of Izzy, Matthew & Jack, dear Sister of Helen.
Funeral Service at St. Peters Chapel, The Exeter & Devon Crematorium on Thursday 16th June at 12.30pm.
Please wear bright colours.
No flowers please, donations if desired to the British Heart Foundation by retiring collection or sent to N. Lock & Son, Black Torrington, EX21 5QD. 01409231281 or via this page.
Refreshments will be held at Halwill Baptist Hall from 3pm, all welcome including anyone unable to attend the Crematorium.
Eulogy – Catherine Lawlor Catherine Agnes Lawlor was born on 30th January 1948 in Jedburgh, in the Scottish borders. Catherine was always known as Kate, except by her mother who always insisted in using her full name, particularly when she was in trouble! She was the daughter of Dave and Jenny Aitchison. Who were both from the borders, Dave coming from the fishing village of Eyemouth on the eastern coast of Scotland where the family were fishermen and Jenny from a farming family around the Jedburgh area. Kate was born in Jedburgh and spent the first 6 years of her life there. After the birth of Kate’s sister, Helen, the family, like many Scottish families, moved to the Steel Town of Corby in Northamptonshire for employment where her dad became a foreman in the tube works. With a baby in the house her mum found work as a Home Help and then as Helen got older and Kate was looking at going to college Jenny changed her job and worked in the laboratory at Golden Wonder Crisp factory that had newly opened in Corby. Even though they lived and worked in Corby they never forgot their Scottish roots and when the steel works had its annual 3 week “shut down” in the summer the family would go back to Scotland to visit all the relatives from both sides of the family. It was a very happy time when Uncles, Aunts and all her cousins would get together usually at a big picnic although Kate always claimed that being “dragged” miles across coastal headlands to these picnics put her off walking for the rest of her life. Her dad was a good and keen swimmer, and it was in Jedburgh he taught Kate to swim at an early age. She passed her love of the water onto her granddaughter Izzy by encouraging her to swim and even taught her how to dive. Izzy has inherited the swimming genes and to Kate’s pride is now a member of a Synchronised Swimming team in Bristol. Kate was able to watch a video of Izzy competing in her first team competition in the afternoon before she died. Her joy and pleasure were clear. Kate was extremely proud of Izzy and her achievements at school, swimming and Guides. Kate went to the Corby Grammar School, and this is where she met John in the sixth form. John’s friend David wanted to go out with Kate’s best friend Gwen, so John was asked to make up the foursome. Both John and Kate quickly recognised that they had something special and stating dating. John remembers walking Kate home from school pushing her bicycle. Despite both going to college, John to Sheffield and Kate to Leeds, their relationship flourished, the train between the two cities was well used. On graduation, John started work with the Corby Steel Works and Kate became a teacher in Corby a year later. The following year they were married on 18th July 1970 in the Baptist Church in Corby. Kate was a talented dress maker and made her own wedding dress and those of her bridesmaid’s. It was the year the Commonwealth Games were in Edinburgh, so they decided to spend their honeymoon in Scotland. It is a Scottish tradition to decorate the car the bride and groom are leaving the reception in, including tying tin cans to the back of the car to make as much noise as possible when driving away. Unfortunately, the guests decorated the wrong car allowing Kate and John to get away “scot free”; not so lucky for the guest whose car was covered with ribbons, banners and of course the tin cans! You will be pleased to hear though Kate and John didn’t get away completely, as family members had got into their cases and covered everything in confetti which was all over the Hotel floor when they emptied their cases on arrival in Edinburgh. John in the meantime had left the Steel Works and started his career in Logistics. This meant initially moving around the country and Kate supported him in this. Being a teacher meant she could always find a job. After Corby they lived in Mitcheldean near the Forest of Dean, later they moved to Pontefract, West Yorkshire where their son Ross was born, he was a perfect little baby and brought both Kate and John great joy. A few years late they moved to Cambridgeshire, where their daughter Carys was born. It was Christmas time and despite both grandmothers visiting and Kate being heavily pregnant she was determined to make the dinner. After dinner Kate went for a rest but it was pretty obvious baby No 2 was on the way. Carys was born in the early hours of Boxing Day and Kate was home later that day, only to find both grandmothers had already raised a glass “or two “to celebrate the arrival of latest member of the family. Carys was the beautiful little baby girl that completed Kate and John’s family. On leaving Cambridgeshire they moved to Solihull where they lived for 30 years and Kate returned to teaching. She and John renovated the property they had bought turning it into a large spacious family home with a big beautiful garden This is where Kate’s love of gardening started she redesigned the whole garden, a couple of times, and John had the job moving things around each time. During a three-year secondment by John to America Kate developed and survived breast cancer. It was said by her family that if she hadn’t been in America the outcome may not have been so positive. Kate’s mum came over straight away to be with Kate. Sister Helen and Keith, her finance, were talking about getting married so they decided to have their wedding in Kates’ house in America. Despite getting over Chemotherapy Kate insisted on making the wedding cake, it was a difficult time but she was determined to make it a special day for everyone. Further illness followed. On return to the UK in 1998 Kate was diagnosed with Insulin Dependent Type 11 Diabetes and in 2001 she suffered a major Heart attack. Despite this, she was determined not to let things stop her and maintained an active and healthy lifestyle. She was not one to go around telling everyone about her problems therefore only family and a few close friends were aware of her underlying conditions. Both Kate and John enjoyed holidays and travelling, they regularly spent time in France and often, using Johns Air miles, visited the friends they had made in America. Both Kate and John were very proud when Ross and Carys graduated from university, started their careers and eventually set up homes in Bristol and Solihull, with their partners, Kerry and Mike. Kate gave up teaching in the late 1990s and when John retired in 2009 they enjoyed exploring various parts of the world, this included travelling around Australia for three months where they visited Ayres Rock and also climbed the Sydney harbour Bridge. Although they loved their house in Solihull they decided to move somewhere nearer the sea, it was obvious being near the sea was in Kate’s blood. Despite there being a housing recession in 2011 the house in sold in Solihull very quickly, they then spent six months house hunting. Kate always said that when she walked into the Old School in Halwill she knew within 20 seconds it was the one, both John and her just fell in love with the place straight away. Rural Devon really suited her and she quickly became immersed in village life. She was an active member of the local Women’s Institute. She joined two creative sewing groups and her pieces won acclaim. Her baking skills earned her regular “firsts” at the village show for her scones using her Mum’s recipe, something she was very proud of. She also learnt glass sculpting skills and many pieces are in her home. However, her piece de resistance was her general knowledge skills. Her four-person team admits that she answered over 90% of the questions when they went to the village pub quiz. John was always asking her “how do you know that?” when some apparently random event or question came up on the news; she was just a font of knowledge. She was also a dedicated puzzler and had recently become a “Wordle” fan. The only thing she would not do is play Monopoly with John, because she said he always cheated; John of course still disputes this. Kate really enjoyed Christmas and the house was always full of decorations and lights inside and out. The highlight was the tree. It had to be real and just the right shape. This meant an annual trip to Staceys Christmas Tree Farm. However, despite hundreds of trees being available Kate had to inspect all the ones in the plantation and it was always seemed to be the one furthest from the shop that she chose. The height of the ceiling in the lounge meant that a giant tree was needed. However, one year she was too enthusiastic and even with aid of a tall stepladder John could not reach the top; over three feet had to be removed! The joy of her life were her grandchildren who she adored. She was particularly close to her oldest Izzy. They had long weekly chats and she loved passing on her cooking skills when Izzy visited. Kate was also very proud of her two grandsons, Matthew and Jack and thoroughly enjoyed spending time with them, but as they are a lot younger they were just starting to appreciate what a wonderful Grandma they had. Matthew has just started school and would tell her, when he wasn’t totally engrossed in playing with his Lego, what he had been doing at school; something Kate really loved hearing about. She also enjoy seeing videos of Jack who is just 2, as he is such a happy soul and is always laughing; Kate would say his laugh is just so contagious, you just couldn’t help but laugh with him, he can cheer up any day. Kate died on Monday 23rd May in the RD&E in Exeter. Her illness was sudden and unexpected but, thankfully, John was able to share her last moments with her. They were able to hold hands as they had done all their lives together as she just fell asleep forever. Kate was 74 years old and is succeeded by her husband John, her children Ross and Carys, her grandchildren Isabella, Matthew and Jack and her sister Helen. John, Ross, Carys, Helen.
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