Renie Kathleen Hanrahan (29 Jan 1945 - 28 Dec 2023)

In loving memory of Kathleen Hanrahan who sadly passed away on Thursday 28th December 2023, aged 78 years.
Kathleen, known to many of her family and friends as Renie, was born in Wicklow in Ireland in 1945. Daughter to John and Nancy Priestley, who had four children, two of her sisters passed away as babies followed by her mum at the age of only 28. John went on to marry again and have a further nine children, John, Jean, Pete Graham, Patrick, Anne, Paul, Gary and Mark. (the family expanded, too many to mention)
Renie spent time in and out of hospital whilst growing up, she survived tuberculosis, meningitis and pneumonia, which turned her into the strong fighter we know her as today. She would tell us of how the family dog would run alongside the ambulance when she had been picked up to go to hospital and that it would be waiting for her on her return. She went on to love our family Pets and would joke about the cat, Timmy licking her hair as it started to grow back in lots of different directions. She loved the dogs, especially Dexter who would want to sit on her knees for cuddles, (he weighed 29kg and nearly as big as her)
Renie being one of 13 children in total and being the eldest she enjoyed taking care of her younger siblings whenever she could, Jean has fond memories of being taken out to the Chinese with Renie and her late husband Eddie, this gave her a passion for caring for children.
Renie moved to England as a teenager where she started her nurse training and spent time working in a children’s home which she enjoyed. Last year she took a drive to visit the village and children’s home in Repton and reminisced about all the good memories she had of the place. One of those memories was a staff party where she first met Eddie. Eddie then showed up to a few more parties and swept her off her feet. He was the love of her life!
Renie married Eddie and began their own family with Maria, followed closely by Chrisdina and Pauline, who were named after Renie’s two sisters (Chrisdina and Pauline) that had died as infants back in Ireland. Renie devoted her life to raising her family, she would dress them in the same clothes, often ones she had made herself, people would ask if they were triples.
Once her children were old enough to go to school, Renie found work as a dinner lady at St. John Fisher school so she would continue to keep an eye on her children. She also completed housekeeping tasks in the convent for the Sisters of Mercy and became a valued member of staff. She worked her way up from being a supervisor on the playground to being a self-taught cook in the kitchen and enjoyed catering for the school, charity events and parties where she became known for her incredibly decorative cakes, banana and fruit loafs which people would put orders in for, all money raised would go towards the keep of the school. After 30 years at the school Renie retired but didn't stop there, she would go to work with her daughter Chrisdina at The White Doves Care Home where she would help with the cooking and caring for the residents, some staff have mentioned how she taught them to make the best shepherd pie and bake a pineapple sponge.
Renie was extremely creative, from adventurous stories for her grandchildren, to making paper dolls with elaborate dresses, to sewing, knitting, cooking and drawing, there was nothing Renie couldn’t do if it meant her imagination could have free reign.
As her family grew with eight grandchildren, (Sarah, Danielle, Arabella, Charlotte, Luke, Shannon, Daniel, Dean) and 4 great-grandchildren (Kiya, Isabelle, Harry and Mila) she kept them all together as one big, happy family through the love and devotion she showed each and everyone. She enjoyed cooking Sunday dinner most weeks for the whole family where they would all laugh, joke and play which filled her heart with joy. Whenever asked what she wanted she would always say “for everyone to be happy”.
Renie loved her holidays away with the family, she was always seen as The Queen Bee wherever she went, often treated like a queen due to her glamour, kindness and drawing everyone together. She enjoyed many trips to India, Mexico, Gambia, Dubai and across Europe as well as Devon in the Motorhome, (which we never thought she would have done) but loved! and Blackpool to see the lights.
Renie loved her garden where she spent 35 years tending to the roses bushes, herbs and flowers that she had enjoyed with Eddie, she loved hosting afternoon tea and picnics for the children, she loved to watch them play, she would throw blankets on the grass for all to relax on and often fall asleep.
Renie was an incredible teacher, with great patience and kindness. She wanted to help everyone and would always be the first to celebrate any little success. She would happily give her time to those who needed it and share her knowledge to anyone who asked for it, never asking for anything in return. She was an amazing woman; she touched the hearts of so many in the community and will be dearly missed.
Renie was found to be a donor for her sister Bernie who needed a stem cell transplant, Renie never gave it a second thought when she found she was a match which gave Bernie six more years with her loving family. Without stating the obvious this undertaking for Renie was exactly the right and only thing to do, her selflessness was and is unmatched, the humble values she displayed during this extremely difficult chapter in both of their lives was immense. Their lives were undoubtedly rewarded on so many levels, the simple gift of sharing your own cells to another is absolutely priceless, the admiration they held for each other post the transplant can only be described as incredible. One can only imagine the tranquil times they spent reflecting on the procedure they both shared, (even over a solitude cup of tea) a knowing and endearing smile must have appeared on their faces whenever they thought about it. That in itself is a prime example of sisterly love.
Shared memories:
As mentioned above Renie was an incredible cake decorator, her cakes were delicious too, but her grandchildren, Charlotte, Arabella and Danielle have fond memories of sneaking into their nana’s dining room, quietly opening the cabinet and eating the decorative icing, not too many that their nana would notice, then they would find it hilarious when their nana went to use some of the iced pieces and there not be as many there. Of course, Renie always knew what they were up to but always played along because it made the children giggle for hours and gave them these memories to keep.
Renie loved to shop, she would rarely purchase anything but was good at convincing you to buy half the shop. Over the last year when she was unable to get out as much, family members would take their items to her room to show her all their purchases. Her grandson Dean would do this almost daily after trolling the charity shops and items from TK Max. She enjoyed this so much she would call Dean to tell him that she just saw the TK Max lorry drive pass and to hurry to go see what is in the new stock. Dean loved her reactions to all his new clothes as she would laugh and make comments on everything.
Friends and family will all have their personal memories of Renie dancing, she loved a good gathering with food, music, love, and laughter. She loved to show off her moves on the dance floor, even in the garden while parting and would be seen with the biggest smile on her face while doing so.
Renie’s garden was a favourite place for all the family to enjoy, she would create fun picnics and teach us how to serve tea in a teapot correctly using the china cups a sugar bowl and milk jug but her Great-grandchild, Kiya, has her favourite memories of the long summer school holidays where she would have naps in the sun’s warmth and Nana’s hugs.
Renie loved and lived for her family, she dedicated her life to caring for them all, she made Christmas a special time when all the family came together. Christmas was so important in the family calendar, so much so that Renie fought to the very end so that she could be there for her great-granddaughter, Mila’s first Christmas! Renie loved Mila’s visits and Mila loved seeing her great-nana, every time Mila saw Nana she would put her hands together to start nana singing Pat-a Cake. Nana and Mila would laugh and giggle throughout the song together.
Renie’s imagination and storytelling would have the children going on all sorts of adventures, a favourite was the crocodile in the wardrobe, which had us crawling around Nana's walk-in wardrobe to find the loft hatches that would take us to this magical swamp where the huge crocodile lived. We only did this to check if she really could “feed us to the crocodile” when we were naughty.
Renie had a love for make-up and skincare. She shared this love with her Granddaughter Shannon. The two of them would give facials to whoever needed one after a stressful day, using the many products Renie purchased from QVC, she definitely kept them in business!!
As a tribute, her Grandson, Daniel wanted to share the time when he stayed with his Nan, (he was around 11 years old) he was riding his BMX bike when he had a fall. Daniel was convinced it had broken his finger, but his Nana put a splint on it and sent him off to school. Two days later when his mum returned, she took him to hospital and the X-ray showed a clean break, his Nan, Renie laughed and insisted he was fine.
A prayer that Renie taught to all the grandchildren and would say with them at bedtime.
There are four corners on our bed,
There are four angels at our head,
Saint Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
God Bless the bed that I lay on.

Isabella, one of Renies great children has fond memories of being held by Nen. Quote: ‘ she gave me the most special cuddles’.

Words from Chrisdina:-Mum came to stay with us over Christmas one year, six years on and she was still with us! I had so many things I wanted to say but as mum remained positive throughout her illness it made it difficult to do so. I wanted to thank her for all her help in bringing up the children, all the times when she cooked us meals ensuring we had our vegetables, her favourite being colcannon, the hot lemon and honey she would make if we were coming down with a cold as well as nettle soup and salt water. I will always be grateful.
Mums knowledge and advice will be missed, she would nearly always have the answers and if she didn't she would GOOGLE it!

Mum sure was a fighter, I have felt so lucky that we were able to spend the last six years caring for each other especially the past thirteen months fighting your illness. You will never be forgotten by any of us, we have so many memories to treasure. We will miss not having you around the house, sitting in the garden and waving to us as we come in and out. We love you so much and I am proud to of had you as my mum.
As we say our goodbyes to our beautiful mother, Nana, great-Nana, sister, aunt and dear friend, we would like to share a quote that truly resonates with the life Renie lived. This quote reminds us that although Renie is no longer physically with us, her spirit lives on in love, laughter and memories we all share. The quote is by Thomas Campbell and reads as follows:

‘To Live In Hearts We Leave Behind Is Not To Die’.