Mollie Woods (8 May 1921 - 7 Jan 2018)

In loving memory of Mollie Woods who sadly passed away on 7th January 2018

Born on May 8th 1921 Mollie Evelyn Woods was the youngest of 5 children with 3 sisters and 1 brother. Her parents lived in Hounslow West London and her father was a teacher at St Paul's School in Hammersmith (now Mortlake). There was a large gap in age between her and her siblings which meant she really was the baby of the family and from what she has told Nigel and I over the years she did get a little spoiled.

The outbreak of WW2 was an opportunity for Mum to leave home and add some excitement into her life. She joined the RAF on 5th Aug 1941 and became a WAAF.
Mum had a good war serving in the UK at first up North where she did her basic training and later at the RAF Staff College in Gerrards Cross. She used to grumble to us that it was the RAF and all the marching and swimming that gave her big and powerful thighs. We would tease her and say it was more likely the result of her running, mostly after good looking airman. This sort of comment was usually responded to by “Don’t be so stupid”
Mum learnt her administration and accounting skills in the RAF and after her demob on 4th January 1946 continued to develop these skills working at Park Davis a pharmaceuticals company in Hounslow.
Looking for a fun night out Mum travelled to Richmond on foot and by bus to attend a dance at The Castle Ball Room. It was here she saw this man sitting on a table swinging his legs and the rest was history as they say. Mum and Dad were married on 3rd September 1949
It is hard to imagine how difficult it must have been for Mum when Dad first took her home to meet the Woods family in Richmond. Dad had 5 Brothers and 3 sisters so he was 1 in a family of 9 + of course many of his siblings had partners. Those of us in the Woods family know how robust you have to be at family gatherings. We do not take prisoners and the banter can be very loud but of course lots of fun. I am sure Mums time in the Mess with the RAF helped her through the first couple of gatherings but from the beginning she was very close and fond of her new extended family.

Mum and Dads early married life was happy but very tough. They had little money and so had to live in an upstairs flat in her parents house. Dad was a carpenter and was running his own small building and decorating business. Mum continued to work at Park Davis.

Things needed to change however and so Dad took a regular job with regular income and we moved from our Grandparents house to a rented house about 2 miles away with a very large garden for Nigel and me to play in. Mum and Dad had ideas of saving up and buying this house and so Dad set about making improvements and building an extension in anticipation of buying. This had to be done in the evenings and at weekends so Mum threw herself into the job and moved thousands of tiles and bricks by hand from the road round to the back of the house so Dad could get on with the building in his spare time.
After a lot of hard work and a number of very happy years making her own family home Mums mother started to show signs of dementia and our Grandfather was finding it hard to cope. Mum and Dad agreed to move back to look after our Grandmother and Mum effectively became a full time carer looking after Nan and having to spend more time helping Grandad as he grew older.

Nigel and I grew up in a house where Mum had to devote a lot of time to her parents but we never felt neglected, she always had time for us despite the increasing demands of looking after her parents. After Nan died Mum still was working flat out as Grandad now needed help as he grew older and more infirm. When he died in his 90’s he left his house to Mum as a thank you for everything she had done.

Mums sister Gladys and her husband ran and owned a hardware shop in Cranford for many years. Mum and Dad loved visiting and on occasions helped in the shop and yard. It became their dream one day to own a similar shop and so Mum used her inheritance (around £6,000 in those days) to buy a hardware shop in Greenford. She loved sourcing the fancy goods from wholesalers and making up window displays especially at Christmas. She enjoyed looking after her customers and nothing was ever too much trouble for her. Dad ran the hardware side of the business and the door to door paraffin round that came with the shop operated from a small van with a 400 gallon tank and oil tanks storing the paraffin at the rear of the shop .
The paraffin business was not what Mum and Dad had really wanted and so were happy to sell it to me. I enjoyed running and building this business and Mum was soon very involved doing my books, banking the cash I was taking and making sure I always had a hot meal on the table when I got home late at night freezing cold and smelling of Esso Blue.

The paraffin business “Pronto Heating Oils” soon took on a life of its own with more staff and a payroll to now handle which Mum took on despite still running her shop. We were a great team and it was agreed we should merge the two businesses together, Nigel also joined us making it a truly family business. Mum decided to sell her lovely shop and throw herself into doing the admin, sales and accounting for Pronto.
Mum and Dad bought a house in Greenford but now without the shop and with our new oil depot in Southall not ready Mum braced herself for the arrival of tankers outside her house on a daily basis to pay in money and take-out orders. On more than one occasion she had to fend off Council officials who were visiting and wanted to know what the heck was going on down this residential street. One visit was not helped by us having left a tanker at the side of the house with a scaffold pole through the cab windows with a gear box suspended from it dripping oil. Mum coped very well with all this, charmed the Council officials with tea and biscuits and kept them at bay long enough for us to secure our new premises and move our operations away from the house.
All of her hard work did pay off and as the company grew, she ran our accounts office and help keep the company finances and banking in order. She was a director of the company and ensured we always had accurate records to discuss at board meetings.

Mum and Dad had by this time moved to a new house in Camberley where they would eventually retire. They did a lot of work extending and refurbishing this home and eventually when it was finished Mum decided to call it Symphony. This was due to Dad being a typical builder never quite finishing any of the jobs completely so she said it made a change from living in one of his unfinished symphonies.

This new home saw the start of a new phase of Mums life. Nigel got married to Marie and 13 months later I married Sue. Between us we gave Mum 6 Grandchildren and 11 Great Grandchildren. All of whom love her very much as I am sure we will hear today.
After 52 years of marriage Dad passed away on the anniversary of their first date. Mum managed this loss very well in her tough and practical way not wanting to be a burden on us and remaining fully in control of her life and affairs. She decided to move home about 4 years after Dad died and purchased an apartment in the Ambassadors, Sunningdale. She soon met all her neighbours and set about helping them when and where she could. She used to collect all the newspapers from the lobby every morning and deliver them to each apartment front door. She would often be seen washing up in the lounge kitchen after a residents coffee morning. Still the caring and hardworking Mum from those days in Hounslow.

In December 2010 following a fall and a couple of weeks of respite care in Sunrise Bagshot she decided that she would like to move in as a permanent resident.
It soon became apparent something was not right. She must have known long before us that she was starting to suffer with the early stages of dementia. This was her worst fear as she often said she did not want to end up like our grandmother who she spent so many years looking after.
Over the years her condition did deteriorate but through the mist of this terrible disease she still managed to break through and be our Mum. She would always recognise us when we turned up. She loved coming over and being with our dogs and watching her grandchildren and later great grandchildren grow up. She maintained her love of our family and was always kind and helpful to staff and residents at Sunrise.
It was very apparent how much she was loved by everyone towards the end. So many of the staff and carers at Sunrise were in tears when Mum became ill 12 months ago and it looked like she would not get over a viral infection. But she did and came bouncing back as she had done 18 months before from a broken hip.
Unfortunately just before Christmas this year she fell and broke her other hip, she had a replacement operation within 24hours and by Christmas Day was sitting in a chair at Frimley Park Hospital. We all expected her to once again recover. She moved back to her room in Sunrise after Christmas and fought hard to get better but age was against her and at 96 even Mum despite a very strong fight could not hang on and sadly died with Nigel and I by her side.
At 96 years of age Mum had built a whole new group of younger friends. Nigel, Marie, Sue and I were amazed at the emotion from everyone at Sunrise when Mum was ill and failing. There were times when there were groups of people from Sunrise queuing at her door wanting to wish her well and later say goodbye. Her true nature and personality had managed to break through her illness and she was still able to end her life the way she lived it being seen as a lovely caring person.

I know Mum would want to join Nigel, me and all our family in thanking everyone at Sunrise for not only looking after her so well over the last 7 years but for all the love and friendship you shared with her. We have all been touched by your kindness.

Rest in peace Mum, thank you for all you have done for us.
We all love you very much.

With All our Love
Dennis & Nigel