Sheila Haigh (21 Mar 1929 - 26 Dec 2019)

In loving memory of Sheila Haigh, nee Streather, who sadly passed away on 26th December 2019.

Donations, if desired, in lieu of flowers, would be gratefully received to ‘MIND’.

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From Jane Dyer, Sheila's neice & Marion's sister:

Dear Sheila,

How sad I feel writing this..my goodbye letter to you. You have always been an encouraging, warm and caring aunt to me and I feel grateful to have been your niece.

I have such fond memories of you and have only known love and generosity from you. All my life you have stood for unassuming service to others, a sense of social responsibility and a delightful spontaneous sense of fun.

Looking back I remember christmas and birthday presents from you were always the best! You seemed to know just what I wanted and I would save yours to open last. I still have the lovely gifts you bought my children..my grandchildren play with them now.

As a young girl I remember sleepovers at Barnard road. I loved the purple clematis that grew profusely over the front door...i think back as I write ..on picking green beans in the greenhouse, the admiration I had for your zany cutlery and of course the marvelous shaggy white rug in the lounge..how u ever kept that rug clean amazes me as an adult now!

My own family have grown up knowing your sense of fun and your interest in their lives. My girls were, as teenagers, most impressed with your bendyness!!! Do you remember our yoga sessions together on holiday in Jeffrey's bay...over 60 and your yoga moves had us amazed at your suppleness Our vain attempts to emulate your positions had us in fits of laughter!

I will always remember you smiling, playing French cricket on aberdovey beach with us in a bikini! Thank you for the gift of my holidays at the caravan. I have known such joy there..such delight filled holidays as a teenager and still as an oldie myself...what a wonderful legacy to me and my family they have been..and will still hopefully be.

One of my favourite memories as an adult is of marry and I catching the train from aberdovey to barmouth for breakfast with you. Unexpectedly, you ordered an enormous greasy fry up for brekkie! This at a time when you were strictly adhering to the "fit for life" regime! So down went all the contraband food..bacon sausages fried eggs toast and marmalade... with great relish too! I just loved that spontaneous devil may care streak in you. Needless to say I think the 3 of us all felt a little queasy on the train ride home.

Sheila as you have faced the challenges of later life I have still glimpsed the same warmth, interest and sense of humour that made you special to me. And despite your struggles towards the end I know you loved deeply, and bore sadness and loneliness with as little burden on others as you could manage. I know how amazingly David and Marry cared for you in your last days and hope you were comforted by them as you suffered.

But now...I pray you are filled with awe and wonder at the new adventure your passing releases you into. May you bake delicious fruit cakes, do bendy yoga and be free to be you again in a place we know not yet. Much love to you my favourite aunt

Your memory will be cherished by us..

Jane..Gordon..Hailey, Kent and Kimi.

Written by John Streather, Sheila's cousin:
Sheila spent most of her adult life caring for others, first as a nursing sister and then nursing her mother till she died, taking her father in to her home and looking after him till he died, looking after her aunt Mollie after her hip operations and then visiting her almost daily in the nearby home and doing all her washing for her, till she died, nursing her husband, Derek till he died and caring for her son, Johnny for far longer than she should have been expected to. She was extremely kind and generous to both her uncle, my father and me. My father, Godfrey, much appreciated being invited to Warren House for copious and delicious Sunday lunches, Sunday after Sunday, as did I. I well remember the great trouble that Sheila and Derek went to to celebrate my 60th birthday - Warren House was bedecked with balloons and all the available cousins and uncles and aunts had been invited to the party as a surprise - which was sprung upon me when I entered the sitting-room! What a lot of trouble they went to so as to arrange all that! I had many a happy stay for several days at a time with Sheila and Derek when Derek and I would look together, for hours at a time, at riveting videos about nature and science while Sheila prepared lovely meals for us all to eat together. After Derek had died and Sheila had moved near to Leicester I still used to go to stay with her and she was always her kind, generous and hospitable self. Sheila put up with severe asthma for most of her life, patiently and uncomplainingly and, in like manner never complained about the unfortunate loss of one of her eyes. She will be much missed and leaves a lasting memory of someone who was always kind, generous, welcoming, unpretentious, practical and down to earth. A very commendable life has, sadly, ended.