Dorothy Joan Cook (18 Aug 1923 - 19 Dec 2016)

Sorry to hear of your sad loss. Thinking of you.

Love and miss you grandma xxx

Joan was born in Newbury on 18th August 1923, although christened Dorothy Joan she always preferred Joan. She was the youngest daughter of Frank and Edith Taylor, a sister to Gwen and Frank Junior.

She spent her younger years in Inkpen near Hungerford, Berkshire and often told the family of her times walking to Hungerford school for Cookery lessons and having to walk many miles to and from school– she always said “ it never did me any harm” although she had to walk by a herd of cows and she never did like cows!

She moved to Gainsborough in her teens and worked as a munitions girl at Marshalls during the war years.

It was in Gainsborough that she met her husband, Len and they married on 10th April 1943. Joan and Len had six children, Maureen, Carol, Pamela, Stephen, Jacqueline and Sharon. She often joked that she was trying to lose Len in the crowd. The family settled in Old Chapel Yard, a two up to down house belonging to the Wildbore family.
Whist raising her family Joan continued to work as a Home Help for Lincolnshire County Council (today’s equivalent of Care Workers.). Sunday afternoons were invariably spent on family walks around Big Belt or Trent Bank or on family picnics in Richmond Park or the top of the rec.

Len died on October 15th 1987 by which time the family had moved to Lime Tree Avenue. She continued to live there and spent over 50 years in that house. Sadly both Maureen and Pamela passed away during her lifetime but she was blessed with five grandchildren and six great grandchildren over the years.

Joan was always a strong supporter of the John Robinson Memorial Church (now known as the United Reform Church, all here children were christened here, three of her children married here and some of her grandchildren were also christened here. Her children all attended both Sunday School and Senior Church as well as attending the Youth Club.
She was a staunch member of the Tuesday and Saturday Coffee Morning Team serving tea and coffee as well as making hundreds of Plum Bread loaves and Fruit Pies, Indeed Joan still served well into her eighties.

Joan was a remarkable woman, wife and mother and was fortunate enough to enjoy good health for over 90 years of her life, thinking nothing of walking to and from town to a late age before the years started to take their toll. Although she became very frail physically over the last three years she maintained an active mind and always interacted with the carers who visited, singing songs, telling them off and keeping them in order!

For all of her life Joan loved both cooking and baking (note the earlier mention of plum loaves!) and always ensured her family were well provided for. Christmas used to be a real delight with cooked breakfasts, dinner and teas with trifle, mince pies and cakes. Visits from the family always saw them take away numerous fruit or meat pies, indeed one her daughters had so many she had to give them to friends, thus cementing her fame in Devon!

It is evident from the grief and sorrow felt by all of her family that Joan was a well loved mother, grandmother and great grandmother and from the messages of sympathy by the family she was also well liked in her community.

Joan enjoyed a very good life over 93 years and will be remembered by all for many, many more years.