In loving memory of Beryl Maisie Marsh who sadly passed away on 23rd March 2016, aged 86 years.
Beryl's funeral service will take place at Southampton Crematorium, West Chapel on Friday 8th April at 1.45pm.
Family flowers only please, Donations for Alzheimer's Research Uk may either be made online, on the day of the funeral or sent C/o New Forest Funerals, Bank House, The Square, Fawley, Southampton, SO45 1DD
Beryl Maisie Marsh 10th October 1929 – 23rd March 2016
On the 29th of October 1929 Beryl was born in the Royal Victorian Hospital in Boscombe to parents Harold William White and Maggie Irene Agnes White. Her early life was spent in and around the Bournemouth area with her Brother Roy and Sister Rene.
Beryl met the love of her life William George Marsh more informally known as Bill. Bill had caught her eye when she saw him on the back of his friend’s motorbike one day and little did he know that he had just sped past the soon to be love of his life, wife and mother to his children.
They married in the October of 1948; they had their first child Carol, in the October of 1953 and their son Stephen was born in the February of 1956. Over the years the family lived in three houses in Southampton with Waltham Crescent being the first; St James’ close in Shirley the second and the final move of 300 yards into Turners Oak Court.
They led a wonderful, happily married life with picnics in the New Forest, trips to the beach with family and friends where there would always be games to entertain the children, and a wholesome picnic provided for all. Another of Beryl’s favourite pastimes was settling down for an evening of gambling, with the odd drink or two, to ease the nerves and steady the hands. With huge one penny bets there was a fortune to be won, well a pound or two at the most but she loved the evenings at, her sister and brother in laws, Rene and John’s famous Morrison Avenue Casino.
On moving to Southampton Beryl held a number of jobs from working in the White Star Laundry in Fremantle, a Kitchen helper at the long demolished Chest Hospital in Southampton, a cleaner in a Vet’s Clinic and finally her last full time job of a cleaner in a school. Another full time position of love was when Beryl nursed her loving husband through to his last days; unfortunately Bill suffered from COPD in its cruel form of emphysema and sadly passed away in 1980.
During this sad time of Bill passing Beryl found solace from her neighbour Anne who soon became one of her very close friends. Anne too lost a loved one at an early age and the pair helped each other through some tough times.
Anne was the first person to take Beryl abroad on holiday which was an experience she loved. On one such holiday the hotel cocktail bar was a regular haunt, every morning in fact, for hot chocolate at 10:00 and a cheeky measure of Brandy, purely for meditational purposes of course.
Beryl needed geography lessons when her Daughter Carol and then boyfriend Dave set off to live on Isle of Arran off the west coast of Scotland. They fell in love with the Island, settling down and getting married there. It was a place Beryl loved to visit with fond memories of cows escaping, trips to the beach and visiting her three grandsons, Luke, Shane and Daniel.
A few years after Bill passed away Beryl and the furry love of her life Brindle, a Yorkshire Terrier, moved in with her Son Stephen and daughter in law Jean; this was her home for more than thirty years. In 1983 Beryl became a grandma for the fourth time, when Stephen and Jean had a daughter, Kelly.
The relationship between Beryl and her granddaughter Kelly was very strong; in fact she was a second Mum to Kelly. Nan’s are very special to grandchildren and living with her Nan in the same house deepened their bond. Beryl would often take Kelly to school, help look after her, play games and help her with school projects; one fond project in particular was creating a Christmas card for a school competition which she won all thanks to Nan. A very early memory of Kelly’s is dancing around the house to Duran Duran’s Wild Boys playing loudly, over and over again. In the later years when Kelly left home she would regularly take her Nan out for long drives in the forest, a bit of shopping and for tea and cake.
Another couple who were a key in Beryl’s life were Toni and John Hester who employed Beryl, part time, to help with the cleaning around their home, they soon became good friends. Beryl worked for them for over 10 years and during the later years when the onset of Alzheimer’s began to show they would still have her round but for tea and cake. Beryl was extremely fond of them.
Beryl and her daughter in law Jean were also very close. They would go everywhere together and also enjoyed the sunning themselves in the garden, keeping the house clean and tidy, as well as a sherry or two. In the later years Jean also looked after Beryl when she unfortunately developed Alzheimers. In 2014 Beryl moved into Sundial Cottage Care Home, where she was looked after during her remaining years. Here she developed quite a bond with staff members until she occasionally was asked to take her medication and then it would be a firm and stubborn NO! We recently heard, from one of the other residents of Sundial who shared a story of how Beryl loved chips and would often be caught trying to steal chips off other people’s plates during dinner time. Through everything she always remained cheeky.
Beryl lived with Alzheimer’s for about 5 years and despite struggling with a few things her bond with her family always remained strong, particularly with her son Stephen who could always bring a very big smile to her face.
Over the years Beryl became known to all in her local village, knowing all the shop keepers and even befriending the landlord and lady of the local pub, Roy and Yvonne who became good friends. Other very important people in her and the family’s life have been Kate and Kevin, Bev and Al, and Jacqui and Dom who have shared some wonderful memories over the years. Beryl loved to be involved in parties and social gatherings and would often be wound up by Kevin cheekily messing up her hair or hiding her beloved TV time’s magazines. She always got her own back though.
Beryl always liked to be busy, never sitting still from cleaning to gardening and she ran a tight ship. Over the years the family home saw many changes in additions and decorations, and she would always be in the thick of things from removing wall paper, painting and anything where she could help; her drive to clean up after the day’s hard work was amazing. And after the builders left for the day she would be inspecting their work and making comment if they had left any mess.
Beryl’s other love that came after family, friends, pets, a spicy Vinaloo, and the odd tipple was the garden. She worked very hard over the years keeping the garden in a wonderful condition. The garden was her favourite place it made her feel warm, contented and above all else happy. She always said “This is where I want to be when I go” and those who love her will ensure her wish is met.
Beryl was a strong, cheeky, caring, wonderful lady who will be sadly missed by all.
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