Irene Mee (4 Jun 1935 - 12 Aug 2023)

In loving memory of Irene Mee who sadly passed away on 12th August 2023, aged 88 years.

Penny had quite an inauspicious start to her life - as the youngest of thirteen children, and due to the poverty of the times, she was left at a Dr Barnardo's home when she was a few days old. Barnardo's were undoubtedly a good force in her life, placing her with her foster parents in Cotton when she was a small child. She told us that they also sent her to one of their colleges, Warboys, when she was 16, but once she left there, she came back to her "Mum and Dad", who remained her parents (and our beloved Nanna and Granddad) for the rest of their lives.

Although named Irene at her birth, after a couple of other jobs, "Penny" started working at the NAAFI in Felixstowe, where everyone else's name started with a "P" - so they decided to call her Penny and it stuck so well that she called her eldest daughter by the same name!

Penny was married for 20 years, having five children in this time, Penny, Lynn, Jayne, Tina and Russell. She also had two other children, who did not live very long, Ian and Karen. She was a lioness for her children at a time when single parent families were very rare. Penny wasn't afraid to stand up to figures of authority if she thought they were wrong. She would always see things done in a just way.

She worked hard and brought all of her children up with a good sense of what was right and wrong.

Her family remember many good times, although money was scarce. They were always happy for Penny to tell them a story, or all have a good old sing song, sometimes making up their own rhymes and often going for walks at the weekend. She made sure there were always enough food and clothes for them. She often made her family's clothes herself, enjoying sewing and knitting as a hobby, including making many Aran jumpers and cardigans over her lifetime, some of which are still being used 30 years or more on.

In later life, Penny was not in the best of health, but she always told people "we mustn't grumble" and "you've just got to keep on going" when they asked how she was. She gradually lost the ability to walk or to do many things for herself, but was always happy to have her family around her. Her church was also important to her throughout her lifetime.

She was a very special lady (and Mum, Nana and Great-grandma), and will be loved and stay in our memories for the rest of our lives."