Alice Margaret Harvey (Passed away 22 Jun 2018)

“Good natured”, “cheerful”, “optimistic”, and “loving”, “the glue that held the family together”, “always so very proud of her family”. These are the words used by family and friends to describe Alice. We might add a little bit “stubborn” too - Alice knew her own mind and was certainly no-body’s fool.

She was the only person, of whom I can honesty say, that I never heard her say an unkind word about anybody. She always looked on the bright side of life and never grumbled. This radiating positivity made people love her and want to be with her.

Above all, Alice was a people person, who loved to chat (just when you thought you had come to the end of a call with Alice and were about to put the phone down, she always remembered just one more thing she had to tell you).

Alice reached out to others and was genuinely interested in their lives. She worked hard on maintaining relationships. Once a friend, always a friend. She kept in active contact with all the members of her own large family and her husband family.

The family was of utmost importance to Alice and she delighted in the lives of her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and all their partners and her nieces and nephew and their families. She always remembered birthdays, even when there were so many (November was a particularly busy month with over 10 cards to send out). Alice revelled in the visits from the family – especially the “troops” as the great grandchildren were nick-named.

When visiting Alice, she would invariably press the infamous ham sandwiches upon you and, as you were leaving, some goodies to see you on your way. Resistance was futile, even if you declined, when you got home you would find a Kit-kat, cake or crisps or a banknote that she had hidden in your bag. Alice preferred to give rather than receive and was genuinely distressed if her cupboard was bare - “oh darling I have nothing to give you”.

She insisted on coming outside in all weathers to wave you goodbye - after she had applied her lipstick and combed her hair - you had to keep up appearances.

Alice had an active and enquiring mind, she studied French for many years, and she kept her brain sharp with crosswords and puzzles. She also loved poetry, and used to recite her favourites to her cat. I can see them in my minds eye, sitting quietly together after the visitors have gone, enjoying ‘Tiger, tiger burning bright’, ‘The owl and the pussy cat’ and ‘Old Possums book of practical cats’.

Of course it’s impossible to express the essence of a person in a few words, but I think the young French student, who met Alice over 40 years ago, captured why we all loved Alice. She recalled Alice as:

“A lovable person, who went throughout life with love and constant good humour, and a curious mind. She welcomed me in to her home and treated me like a close friend. I will never forget”.

And nor will we.