Pauline Margery Purcell (16 Feb 1947 - 8 Dec 2016)

In loving memory of Pauline Margery Purcell who sadly passed away peacefully on Thursday 8th December 2016 at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Surrounded by her loved ones, at the age of 69.

She was laid to rest at 11.00am on Thursday 29th December 2016 at the Eltham Crematorium.

Born in Plaistow in Feb 1947 to parents Kathleen and Bill, Pauline was the eldest of 3 children.

She grew up in Canning Town with her elder brother William and younger brother Malcolm, who sadly died from Leukaemia, aged only 8. Pauline and Malcolm were very close as children and she would often talk about him to her children and grandchildren.

The family moved to Dagenham when Pauline was aged 16. She was a sociable teenager who liked to spend time with her cousins Gloria and Sandra at her Aunt’s dance school on Saturday nights.

Pauline met her husband Dave in 1968 at a mutual friends’ wedding. They married in 1972 and went on to have 2 children together, Matthew (in 1975) and Natalie (in 1980), and then 3 grandchildren, Chloe aged 14, Aidan aged 9 and most recently, little Talula, aged 3 months. We are thankful that Pauline and Talula were able to spend a little very precious time together.

After leaving school, Pauline studied with Pitmans and eventually became a legal secretary, a job which she did up until the summer of 1975 when Matthew was born and again after her children had grown up and left school.

In her thirties Pauline developed a passion and talent for cake decorating and would go on to make many impressive wedding and birthday cakes for family, friends and friends of friends.

The most important thing in Pauline’s life was her family. In 1980 Pauline and Dave purchased a delapidated 1940’s beach chalet on a little Island off the Essex coast called Mersea. The ‘shed’ as Pauline referred to it had no toilet, heating or running water. So not exactly the Ritz Carlton but it was right on the beach and the family spent many happy summers there – playing in the sand as kids, then later Matthew and Dave took up waterskiing (badly) and windsurfing (badly) – aged 13 Matthew was picked up by the coastguard 3 miles offshore less than an hour after repeatedly ignoring his mum’s warnings that it was too windy and dangerous to windsurf that day. When finally dumped back on the beach by the orange inflateable, shivering and wrapped in a foil blanket, while the gathering crowed tutted and shook their heads, it was only the body heat generated by the embarrassment and fear of his mum’s telling off that managed to keep the hypothermia at bay.

Years later, in keeping with the family tradition, Natalie, Chloe and Aidan all routinely continued to ignore Pauline’s advice and would inevitably find themselves in similar situations.

The family eventually sold the ‘shed’ in the early nineties but returned to Mersea to buy a lodge in almost exactly the same spot, several years ago. Time had moved on and so the lodge came fitted with previously unheard of luxuries such as heating, running hot water and even a working toilet! Pauline found the lodge a relaxing retreat during tough times and enjoyed watching her grandchildren having fun on the beach as her own children did many years before. In the future we hope that little Talula will come to enjoy it just as much.

Pauline was always very independent and up until the start of this year would still drive. Dave loved to rib her about her careless driving and would make a point of thoroughly examining the car for dents whenever she returned from shopping. The jokes stopped somewhat suddenly when one evening he decided to borrow her car and through no fault of anyone else’s, wrote it off within 2 minutes and only fifty yards from their front door. Thankfully nobody was injured, but the tables were finally turned and Pauline officially confirmed her status as the no.1 driver.

Another big part of Pauline’s life in latter years was her faith. She attended Trinity Baptist church in Bexleyheath where she became an active member of the church community helping with various support groups and becoming a school pastor where she made many friends.

Pauline was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006, which later turned to secondary breast cancer in the liver, for which there was no cure. She had many medical treatments over the next 10 years, from operations to chemotherapy, much of which had debilitating side effects. Throughout all of this she never complained and took comfort from being able to offer support to those she met with similar conditions through the course of her illness.

What was Pauline to her friends? A caring, loyal dependable friend who would always put others first and would never let anyone down.

What was Pauline to her family? One of a kind. The most wonderful wife, mother and nan. She can never be replaced but her memory will live on forever in our hearts.