Kelly Verrent (2 Oct 1980 - 29 Dec 2020)

Kelly Louise Verrent was born on 2 October 1980 at 5.35pm in Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone, with an afro that could rival Michael Jackson, to her mother, Pauline, and dad, Tony. She was a quiet baby and certainly made up for her quietness as she grew older.

Kelly attended George Tomlinson Primary School from the age of 4, where she met her lifelong friend, Ebony. By their own admission, Kelly's teachers could not handle what they described as her 'strong personality', and when she was aged 9, she transferred to Davis Lane Primary School. Kelly attended Connaught Girls Secondary School where her love for taking photos and football grew. Kelly grew up in Leytonstone with a love for football, Bruce Springsteen, tracksuits and trainers (strictly no dresses!). Kelly was at her happiest when she would spend her school holidays by the seaside in Dovercourt with her family including her beloved Nanny Edna and her cousins Lisa and Michelle. It was at Dovercourt that Kelly and Michelle put their money together to try their first cigarette. They would get £2 a day and try to make it last all day. Her cousins have fond memories of Kelly dancing in the club in Dovercourt.

In her teenage her years Kelly developed a huge crush on a Man United footballer Eric Cantona and her bedroom walls were covered with posters and magazine cut outs of him. She said she would be a Man United fan forever but got converted to West Ham as she grew older.

Kelly became an older sister when her first little sister, Ceylan, was born in July 1992, and once again to her sister, Rose, in December 1993. She lived with her mum, step-dad Murat and two younger sisters in East Ham.

Kelly had fond childhood memories of spending time with her cousins on her paternal side, Mark and Joe. Kelly also had three siblings on her paternal side; Paul, Terry and Katie. In 2012, Kelly travelled to Sweden to go to Terry's wedding. Paul sadly passed away in 2017. Kelly had been in regular contact with her brother Terry, who lives in South London, as well as other members of her paternal family. She was strongly connected to her Irish roots; she enjoyed celebrating St Patricks Day (any excuse for a drink & a night out)!

At the age of 14 Kelly was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Kelly did not let this dampen her spirit and would still play football in her local park and get up to mischief with her close childhood friends; Victoria, Jaime and Charliean. Kelly also enjoyed attending and getting kicked out of her local youth centre, Pastures, in Leytonstone on a weekly basis. Her cousin, Michelle, would have to beg them to let her back in by promising Kelly would behave herself. Kelly got her first job with Royal Mail as a postwoman, she used to go out all night with her friend, Tara, and go straight to work first thing in the morning.

At the age of 17, Kelly played for Leyton Orient Ladies where her friends remember her scoring from the halfway line. Her friends and family often thought that she could have became a professional ladies footballer as she often put most boys to shame.

When Kelly was 19 she gave birth to one of her greatest achievements, her first born Jodie. Much to everyone's surprise she took to motherhood like a pro and in less than 2 years gave birth to her second pride and joy, Evie. She almost gave birth to Evie in the bedroom of her 8th floor flat scarring her younger sisters, Ceylan and Rosie (then aged 8 and 9) for life. Kelly enjoyed taking Ceylan, Rose, Jodie and Evie on days out to Central London to see the London Marathon, Chinese New Year and other events.

When Kelly was 25, she gave birth to her first born son, Charlie, at King George Hospital. When she found out she was expecting a boy she was over the moon. She wanted Charlie to follow in her footsteps and did everything to get him interested in football. However, Charlie was more interested in online gaming instead of physical activity.

She gave birth to her daughter, Amelia (Millie) in April 2014. at Newham General Hospital. Millie is Kelly's mini me, her dream of having a child who loved football came true. Kelly married Charlie and Amelia's dad, Tony, in September 2011, and the two of them parted ways in 2017.

Kelly was a great mum. The children have fond memories of Kelly taking them on days out to the zoo, concerts, to the seaside, theme parks (where she would go on the rides with the kids despite them making her feel sick); the list goes on. Kelly was a keen fundraiser; in 2013, Kelly and Jodie donated their hair and raised money for the Little Princess Trust. In 2010, Kelly and Jodie took part in Race for Life, raising funds for Cancer Research. As well as more recently braving the shave for JDRF a charity that supports finding a cure for Type 1 Diabetes, she also did a run for this charity in 2003 so she was a long time supporter.

Kelly loved listening to music, her family can remember her always having music on; she particularly liked Tom Jones, Robbie Williams, Justin Timberlake, UK Garage and loved Take That, later on in life.

Kelly had a huge fear of flying but as the strong willed person she was, she did not let this get in the way of her travelling to places she wanted to visit. In her childhood, she visited Ireland to spend time with her family. In 2012, she made the once in a lifetime trip to New York with her mum, Pauline, and sisters, Ceylan and Rose, where she ate and shopped to her heart's content. She took the children on many trips to Spain spending time at water parks and other tourist attractions. She also went to Tunisia.

Kelly loved concerts and was lucky enough to see her idols live in concert. These include Tom Jones, Robbie Williams, Justin Timberlake, Take That, Billy Joel and UB40. As well as travelling up and down the country spending a fortune on train tickets and hotels to accompany Jodie to concerts. In 2014, she went to see Tom Jones with Jodie, Evie and Rose. Kelly waited for the crowd to quieten down and at the top of her lungs (which would have been louder than the average person) shouted 'I LOVE YOU TOM!!!!!!!!' to which he replied with 'I love you too' - this made her life complete.

In 2017, Kelly re-met Dave, her childhood crush. She expanded her family by adopting lots of different species of animals; namely cats, birds, hamsters, rabbits, tortoises (including an adopted donkey in Ireland) and in 2019, she finally got the dog she always longed for; a Scottish Terrier named Billy.

Kelly celebrated her 40th birthday in October 2020 lockdown with her children, partner Dave and her best friend, Victoria. Kelly and Dave had planned to get married in April 2021.

As is evident, Kelly lived her life to the fullest. Everyone who was close to her share fond memories of the times they spent with Kelly during her life. We would invite everyone to share their memories, photos and stories of Kelly on this page so we can all be comforted by the good times Kelly shared with everyone and remember how much of a great person she was and to make sure her memory lives on.

In loving memory of Kelly Verrent who sadly passed away on 29th December 2020. She leaves behind her 4 children; Jodie (20), Evie, (18) Charlie (14) and Amelia (6).