Shirley Wix (Passed away 1 Jun 2020)

Shirley was born on June 2nd 1935 at No. 52, Oval Road North in Dagenham, Essex, the second of 3 girls born to Ted and Dorothy Turner. She was born with a twisted foot and the doctors said she would probably never walk. Undeterred, her father made a special brace for her leg, devised exercises for her, and had her walking by the age of 2.
She always had an extra-special bond with her Dad.
He was a theatre electrician and used to take Shirley with him to work when she was young, since her little fingers could feed wires through small spaces. She loved it.

She was bright and intelligent, and loved writing. Her handwriting was beautiful and neat, like her.
Shirley started writing to a girl called Eleanor in Australia when they were both about 9 years old.
That friendship endured throughout her life.
At school she won prizes for Geography, and a story she wrote.
An essay she wrote after a school visit to Barton’s bakery was sent to the company, who were so impressed with her enthusiasm and attention to detail about cake decorating, they offered her a job.

Shirley left school at 15 with the job offer at Barton’s Bakery.
She also wanted to travel, and thought of working as a hairdresser on cruise liners,
Her Mum said, “No – you’re going to work in an office”, and back then you didn’t defy your parents.

So, she started work in an office at Briggs Motor bodies of Dagenham, who supplied parts to the Ford Motor Company, and promptly met and fell in love with Stan Wix in that office.
4 years later, on September 11th 1954, they were married – she was 19, he was 25.

They lived with her parents while saving for a place of their own and had their first son Wayne in 1957. A few months later they moved into their own home at 114, Heron Way on a newly built estate in Cranham, Essex, near Upminster.
In 1960, Robin arrived to complete the family.
They got around on a motorbike with sidecar, then in about 1964 Dad bought their first car - a Ford Cortina. Mum learned to drive and used to have the car one day every week to take Wayne and Robin swimming.

They lived in Heron Way for many years and made many good friends among the neighbours.
The house was always full of laughter – Mum and Dad shared a great sense of humour and always had fun together. They were very much in love and just great to be with.
Dad was also a bit of a practical joker, and Mum was quite happy to assist him with his pranks.

When we lost Dad, she often said the thing she missed most was him making her laugh every day.

Shirley had left work after the wedding (as was typical back then) and was a full-time Mum to Wayne and Robin until 1973 when she returned to work, primarily to earn the money to take the family on a foreign holiday, which she did.
After that, she continued working so they could get the mortgage paid off early.

Shirley started back to work in the personnel department at Telephone Cables Ltd, then was head hunted by the Department of Employment.
Within a few years she had become the assistant Disabled Resettlement Officer for Barking and Dagenham, finding jobs for disabled people – something she found very rewarding.

Mum was a very talented woman who was able to turn her hand to anything:-
Wayne and Robin remember her making clothes, making curtains, being a hairdresser for friends and neighbours, knitting anything and everything (including hats for premature babies after her first Granddaughter Stephanie was born prematurely).
She also made and decorated cakes (including Wayne’s wedding cake in lavender and white).
Her and Dad also did many things together – German lessons, dance classes, china painting, watercolour painting, and voluntary driving for the hospital, to name a few.
Mum always claimed she hated cooking, but she was a great cook, and we still have some of her recipes to this day, which we use. She was also a good wallpaper hanger and painter.
You name it, Mum could do it and we were extremely proud of her abilities.

As a mother, she always encouraged her sons to try their best at everything they did – both Wayne and Robin have done well in their lives and careers, knowing she was always there cheering them on.
Mum and Dad were a team, and we always had them behind us.

Dad took early retirement in 1984 and a few years later Mum satisfied a lifetime ambition when he took her to see friends and relatives in Australia and New Zealand (including Eleanor) for a total of 4 months.
They did a fair bit more travelling together in retirement and loved every minute of it.
She also loved to go flying with me, and we even took a hot air balloon ride on her 65th birthday.

In November 2002, Dad had heart surgery, but something went wrong and he was left paralysed.
He never returned to Heron Way, but Mum spent virtually every day with him at the hospital until he passed away in October 2003, 5 weeks after their 49th Anniversary.
For several years she had been looking forward to a Golden Wedding celebration, but sadly it wasn’t to be.
She was utterly devastated at the loss of her best friend, lover, and partner in crime.

Mum was a kind and thoughtful lady who loved children and animals, and she would always help people if she could. She was loved by all who were fortunate enough to have her in their lives. All of Wayne and Robin’s friends thought she was great!!
She also had a fantastic, often wicked sense of humour, and was always surrounded by laughter.

Shirley was a wonderful Mum to Wayne and Robin, and a proud and loving Grandmother to Stephanie and Alexandra. She also enjoyed being step-grandmother to Karen’s children. When they started having their own families, she loved meeting the new babies.

As time went on, she developed memory problems, and was finally confirmed as suffering from early stage dementia in 2012. She seemed to cope quite well for some time, but in late 2015 she decided she wanted to move to be nearer Robin and Karen. After relocating her, they realised she just couldn’t live alone, so Karen stayed with her as a full-time carer.

Two years ago she reached the point of needing full-time professional care, and we had to move her into Hillbury House where she was well looked after until she passed away.
It was awful to watch such a vibrant, lively person fade away bit by bit with that horrible disease.

We miss our wonderful Mum every day but we take comfort in the knowledge that she is now with our Dad, the love of her life.