Sheila Ann Hardman (11 Feb 1939 - 21 Jul 2019)

With many thanks for the grateful donations from family and friends who attended the funeral of Sheila Hardman

With many thanks for the grateful donations made by family and friends who attended the funeral of Sheila Hardman

With many thanks for the grateful donations from family and friends who attended the funeral of Sheila Hardman

Many thanks for the grateful donations from family and friends that attended the funeral of Sheila Hardman.

Grandma, lovely lady, kind heart, sadly missed. Thank you. Rest in peace.

All our love Peter, so sorry to hear about Sheila

Lindsay, Andy, Alex, Zoe & Jim, Evan & April xxx

All our love Peter, so sad to hear about Sheila.

Lindsay, Andy, Alex, Zoe & Jim, Evan & April xxxx

So sorry to hear about Shelia. Sending condolences from Lindsay, Andy, Alex Zoe and Jim. Xxx

Sheila was born in Birmingham the first of five siblings in February 1939. In 1950, Sheila passed the 11 plus, but due to financial pressure on the family was unable to go to grammar school. This was a life-long regret. At 15 Sheila left secondary school and started work as a trainee seamstress. This was on top of helping her ailing parents with her younger siblings. As Sheila learned her trade, she was able to make her sister’s clothes and many of her own.

By the age of seventeen, Sheila met het her future husband Ray, and they were married in September 1957 when Sheila was 18. Ray was 23. At first, they lived with Ray’s parents, but soon bought their first house in Belgrave, Tamworth. After a while they moved to a bungalow in Galley Common, and then back to Claremont Road in Coton Green. While all this was going on, Sheila had three children by December 1962. As Sheila’s children grew older and were at school, Sheila also looked after 2 lads who lived across the road, Christian and Nicky, while their parents worked.

The sewing machine never got put away.

As a family they all bobbed along going on holidays to Wales and day trips to air shows and stock/banger car racing. Then Sheila’s eldest child passed the 11 plus, which made Sheila so proud. She did everything in her power to enable him to go. He joined the Royal Navy and after discharge joined the Metropolitan Police. Later, he transferred to the Isle of Mann constabulary where he had a distinguished career, retiring as Detective Inspector.

After watching her mother care for children, Sheila’s 2nd child made up her mind she wanted to be a nursery nurse, and still carries on doing this now. Sheila’s third child passed the 11 plus and went on to Grammar school. Upon leaving, she went to work at the Halifax until marrying and starting a family. She had several businesses and worked in property lettings and maintenance. She is now a care worker for people with disabilities. Sheila was very proud of all her children’s achievements and would have walked through fire to protect them, and even more so her 6 grandchildren.

As time goes on people do change and unfortunately Sheila’s marriage ended in August 1994. By now Sheila was working in various shops selling curtains, wool, and sewing machines. One of her jobs was to go to people’s homes and demonstrate the wonderful workings of these new do-it-all electric machines. Later on, Sheila worked as a shop manager at a wool shop in Sutton Coldfield.

In the late 1990s, while going up the loft to fetch a suitcase, Sheila fell and went straight down the stairs to the bottom. This did not deter her from catching her flight and being there to watch her son’s presentation in the Isle of Mann. Sheila then went to hospital in the Isle of Mann for treatment and was admitted for a while. This fall did not help with already existing conditions of arthritis and osteoporosis.

After getting back to Tamworth, Sheila realised she could no longer maintain the housework and decorating of the three-bedroom house and garden as she had done all her life. So, at the end of 2001, the house was, with much regret, put up for sale. Sheila moved into a small flat at the Alms houses on 7th October 2002.

I already lived at the Alms houses and had been here for about 1 year. We would see each other as neighbours and in the resident’s room, and at various social occasions. I was working and asked Sheila if she would like to do a bit of cleaning and ironing for me. Well, the contents of a three-bedroom house did not fit well in Sheila’s one-bedroom bedsit, so one day Sheila noticed my wardrobe had lots of room and asked if she might put some of her clothes in there. A little while later she said, “there is lots of room in this cubby hole, could I put some more shelves in there?”, so she could bring over some boxes of photos and other glass and china. Sheila would phone me in the mornings to wake me up for work, and over time our feelings grew until one Sunday I cooked a chicken and salad and new potatoes and had the courage to ask Sheila if she would like to come for dinner. This was summertime and by December we had decided we wanted to be together. A one-bedroom flat on the front became vacant, and we applied for it together. We were given the flat, number 36, upstairs on the front. We were both very happy. The rest is another story.

I once read a saying that everyone dies twice. Once when the spirit leaves the body and once when people stop talking about them. So, whenever you see me around and about, come and talk to me about Sheila, and she will never die.