Biography
Connie was born to Bob and Winnie in Chatham just before the start of WW2 and survived the blast from a bomb dropped nearby that blew out the windows of her shelter.
She was a sister to Pat, Bob and Steve and attended Glencoe Road and Fort Pitt Schools, enjoying art and dancing, especially tap and ballet.
She met Derek her former husband at ‘The Vines’ congregational church in Rochester where they later married.
They had four children, Kevin, Graham, Gary and Anita, losing Graham when he was only a few months old.
During the sixties and seventies, she worked as a secretary for a number of companies linked to boats and shipping on the River Medway. Whilst bringing up three children she found time to attend night school to develop her skills as an artist, painting landscapes and creating pottery sculptures.
Kevin, Gary and Anita all moved away from the Medway Towns and in the mid-eighties Connie moved to Derby where she worked for several companies including Qualcast and EPS (European Passenger Services) who were involved with trains for the channel tunnel.
Whilst in Derby Connie initially attended the ‘Community church’ and later was actively involved in the activities of ‘New Life’ church working in the office and with a lunch club for the homeless ‘Jake’ which she found particularly enjoyable and rewarding. During these years many foreign students lodged with her as they came to learn the English language at a local Christian language college.
Just into the new millennium Connie uprooted to Stamford where she was active in a local church, involved on a Sunday and over the years with several midweek house groups.
For many years Connie was frustrated by health challenges, suffering heart issues, cancer and diabetes; these all sapped her energy and her final years saw an increasing decline in her well-being and quality of life.
She peacefully passed away in hospital with Kevin and Anita present.
She leaves behind a sister, Pat; a brother Steve; two sister in laws, Yvonne and Les; three children; two daughter in laws, Sue and Shirley; six grandchildren, Alison, Tim, Hannah, Chris, Phoebe and Amelia; and one great grandchild, Luke.
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