The daughter of William and Catherine Chadwick, mum was born in February 1935 at Crab Lane, Blackley where generations of Chadwicks had been born over the centuries. The youngest of 5 children, she was 4 years old when war broke out in Europe. Schooled by nuns, at 16 she left to train as a dressmaker. She was however once sacked on the same day that she applied for a machinist’s job, sacked because they soon realized that she had no experience whatsoever. Not to be outdone, she simply walked to the nearest firm where she was taken on and stayed for several years. This new-found freedom however was tempered by the loss of her father on Boxing Day of that year. A keen gardener, he finally succumbed to the effects of the Great War not long into his retirement. Mum spoke lovingly and with great reverence of her father right up to the end of her own life. This deepened an already strong bond with her mother - one which was to endure until the end of her days. This level of commitment to a mother who was effectively blind for most of her life far exceeded the demands of mere family duty and showed a deep level of compassion and unbidden loyalty that was the hallmark of her personality. By the age of 21, she had met Roy at the local dance club - who no doubt wooed her with exotic tales of adventure of his time in Malaysia and Singapore, serving with the RAF. This too, inspired her life-long interest and love of travel. Soon the first of their 5 children Tony, was born. Always eager to improve the lot of the family, they moved to Hattersley in 1962. All 5 children went to St James Catholic Primary School where mum first began working as a school dinner lady and formed friendships with many of the children which lasted long into their adult years. Soon she was promoted to assistant cook and then head cook for the school. So at school dinnertimes, we all looked forward to bigger than usual portions, although tea time meals were sometimes exactly the same as what we had at dinner time! We learnt from her the importance of a good diet (especially green vegetables) and we were encouraged for instance to drink cabbage water purely for its nutritional value. That was mum, she was always 1 step ahead of everyone else. Growing up on Hattersley in the 1960’s and 1970’s was not easy, but mum and dad worked extremely hard to provide us with a decent roof over our heads, with mum sometimes holding down 2 jobs at once to provide us with regular wonderful school holidays to Cornwall, Scotland, Wales and the Lake District. We were all aware that many families on the estate were not so fortunate. It would have been easy for all 5 children to have strayed off the straight and narrow but mum and dad kept us resolutely on track. In 1980 when all the children were starting to leave home, mum and dad, undaunted, took out their first mortgage when both were in the mid to late 40’s and bought a 2 bedroom house in Hollingworth. Mum, as always, worked tirelessly over the years to modernise the house which they eventually succeeded in doing. Unfortunately, during the time that they lived there, (not sure how many years) their lives were blighted by the sheer volume of traffic that increased on the road that they lived on. Hollingworth was no longer the sleepy village that it once was. They eventually sold their first house to move to a 1 bedroom apartment on Coombes View in Broadbottom, again mum turning the previously drab flat into a stylish place to live. It was in September of last year that many of us felt that the picture was complete when the last of her children got married, when Paul married Anya in Poland. Even a week before she died she said that is was the “best wedding she had ever been to”. All of us including mum herself felt that this was not something she would ever see in her lifetime. On the day itself, she looked absolutely fabulous and was so proud of the whole family. Both she and dad partied and danced not just late into Sunday morning but from the start of the next day’s festivities. They were amongst the last contingent that trooped off to bed in the wee small hours of Monday morning; getting a couple of hours sleep before an early-morning flight home. Over the years dad’s mobility became an issue living at the flat in Broadbottom and at the start of this year she decided to apply to other housing associations in fear of “anything happening to her”. It was in April of this year that they were given access to their Marple flat and we know that mum was really happy to have moved there. She had a fantastic sense of humour and warmth about her so you could always rely on her to lift your spirits when feeling low. Even when she swore, she never swore in an angry way but in a half joking way and therefore her swearing was for some reason all the more acceptable and funny. As a good catholic she has helped instill into all her children and grand children her own values: compassion, grace, decency, understanding, loyalty, fortitude, respect and the importance of the family unit. She was never fearful of having a go at anything in life. Mum was always on hand to provide emotional and sometimes financial support to all of us and any worries soon disappeared after talking to her. We can all remember her saying to us “Oh, what are you mithering about that for?” She once said that whenever she herself was unsure about what to do she would talk to god for guidance. She was deeply, deeply loved by all of us and was immensely proud of all her children and 12 grandchildren who she loved to bits. She lives on in all of us. We will miss your smile (you could even smile through the hard times), happy manner and laughter that filled the room. In the last 2 and half months of her life when she became really ill, each family member did not hesitate to be at her bedside on a daily basis. On the occasions she was discharged from hospital we stayed fully committed to providing her with the 24 hour care that she needed, despite the demands on all of us from our families and work. She remained stoic and positive throughout her illness. Forever insightful, she once said that “we are all on borrowed time” and a few days before she died said she knew she was going to heaven. We are so, so proud that you were our mum and all the grandchildren loved you so much. We will miss you every day that you are not around. The world is a much poorer place without you, God bless you mum, you were simply the very best.