Rosemary Anne Hales (30 Sep 1934 - 29 Jan 2021)

In loving memory of Rosemary Anne Hales who sadly passed away on 29th January 2021

Born in Epsom on 30th September 1934 my mum entered a world in the midst of a deep depression. George V was the King and Ramsey MacDonald was prime Minister. It was the year that Donald Duck made his first appearance in a cartoon. The driving test was introduced in this year… which is ironic because my mum took her test 7 times before finally passing!

Mum grew up in the Epsom and Ewell area; her parents were Jack and Rose and, unusually for the time, owned their own home. I know that mum was evacuated during the war and spent time with her older sister Dorrie who was 10 years her senior, in Scotland. She was bridesmaid at her sister’s wedding in 1944 when she was 10. We had a complicated family history with members scattered across the globe. My grandmother was half Italian and her brother, my mum’s uncle, lived close to her home in Ewell. He had a beautiful mandolin inlaid with mother of pearl and mum loved to hear him play. Now with mum gone there’s just me, my son and a cousin in Canada.She was very close to our cousin Bunny and visited her when she lived in the USA, Canada and Chile.

Mum was married to my dad, Michael in 1957. They bought a bungalow in Chislehurst. Around this time, my mum was involved in a serious motorcycle accident, she sustained quite a serious leg injury and nearly lost her leg. Both Mum and Dad worked in the travel industry working for Canadian National Railways in the London office off of Trafalgar Square. As a fringe benefit of this they were able to get discounts on foreign travel. So at a time when foreign holidays were generally the preserve of the very wealthy classes they were able to travel and I have photos of them in the South of France, Andorra and Switzerland in the 1960’s.

At some point my mum left Canadian National Railways and worked as a personal secretary at Pergamon press for none other than Robert Maxwell. I recall her telling me that he had a phone in his car in 1964!

I was born in 1965 and we remained in the same area, though moved to Bickley in the late 1970’s. The marriage ended after 22 years and they were divorced. Around 1983 Mum met Geoff, whom I know many of you knew, and although they never married remained together until he died in 2015. They moved in together and after living briefly in Bearsted moved to West Malling around 1988. They bought an Oast House and mum loved the proximity to nature this offered… throughout her life she always loved nature. My partner, Pete, teases me saying being with me is like dating Michaela Strachan from the TV programme Springwatch! But the reality is my extensive understanding of bird song and wildlife was as a consequence of my mum’s encyclopedic knowledge. Mum and Geoff travelled extensively all over the world to the USA (numerous times) Australia and all over Europe. In 1994 they cruised on the QE2. At the age of 70 she travelled solo to Chile!

In 1997 my son, and mums only grandchild, William was born.. now he is 6ft 2” and 23 years old! She was really proud of William and his achievements including graduating from York University in 2018 with a degree in History.

I have already said my mum was a great lover of nature, but perhaps even greater than this was her love of dogs. I was frequently terrified she would get bitten as she would lavish hugs and kisses on just about every dog she encountered! Even the ferocious looking ones! As far as I know she was never bitten by the way!! This passion for dogs led her to volunteer for The Guide Dogs for the Blind for whom she was an avid fundraiser. She has asked that instead of flowers at her funeral people donate to this fantastic cause. In 2009, at the age of 75, she abseiled up the side of a building to raise funds for Guide Dogs. She shook buckets, manned tombola stands, baked cakes and even dressed up as a dog in her relentless quest to fundraise! Mum was also a volunteer at Leybourne RSPCA Animal Centre over many years. She loved to spend time there and was happy to do even the dirtiest jobs. She was loved by both animals and staff there and the team at Leybourne have said that they would like to plant a tree there in her memory.

Mum loved music, she was a big Status Quo fan and also had a lifelong love of Jazz music. I have inherited this love of Jazz music. One of the final outings we had was to the Eagle in Rochester, where on Sundays ( before Covid) you can go in and listen to Jazz music. If you haven’t been you should go, its fabulous! Mum loved it and we spent some lovely afternoons there.

Mum achieved much and was admired by so many people . She was highly sociable and had many lifelong friends. My collection of photos is full of riotous images of my mum laughing hysterically!