Elspeth O'Sullivan (28 Nov 1938 - 16 Dec 2022)

In loving memory of Elspeth O'Sullivan who passed away, peacefully at home, on 16th December 2022.

There will be a Catholic mass at 1415 - you can watch here https://olorchurch.org/ and then a service at the crematorium at 1600 all the details are on the right. The stream for crem is this https://watch.obitus.com/9kzhKV username kepa4499 password 410630. We'd love you to come to one, the other or both before joining us back home to raise a glass and enjoy a sandwich or two.

It would help us if you can click the attend button if you are planning to come and please wear whatever makes you comfortable, Elpie wasn't keen on things being too funereal.

If you prefer you can follow the services on the internet streams that we will have available. The church service will be available here. https://olorchurch.org 1415 on 25th January, 2023.

Mum wouldn't want floral tributes, but we were all very grateful for the excellent care she received from the Hospice at Home team and will be donating to Havens Hospices. If you would like to make a donation in mum's memory you can clickthrough on the top right of this page.

Wife to John, mother to Tim, Shelagh and Lisa and loving grandmother to Eliza, Eloise, Hugh, Rosie and Bertie, Elpie or Beth was also a friend to many.

Born Elspeth Ker in Dilston near Hexham in 1938, Elpie was the youngest of three children. Her sister, and best friend, Sheila and brother Alistair enjoyed a childhood in the countryside until their dad Tom died, and because Sheila was now working in the Army based at Shoeburyness - the family moved to Essex.

Mum had been on course to be a teacher, but was only 14 when they moved and found the transfer from a small country school to the busy King John in Benfleet traumatic. She didn't take her exams and went to work in the council offices to help support the family, before discovering her skills as a dental nurse.

It was in the late 1950s that she met Dad, but it was more than 7 years before they married and moved to her beloved Chellow Dene, her forever home.

Us three Tim, Shelagh and Lisa followed and in due course the grandchildren.

Elpie was never more happy than when she was at home, preferably with the sun shining, the cushions out on her swinging hammock, family close by and a glass of something cold!

In 2019 Elpie suffered weight loss and was taken ill at a friend's birthday party. A problem with gall stones, and an abscess was diagnosed and having never had antibiotics responded well. The gall bladder removal was delayed , and then again by the pandemic, and again by backlogs and poor administration.

Weakened by the gall bladder illness, mum had a fall in 2022 and needed emergency head surgery from which she made a complete and speedy recovery.

On the 22nd of November she was told over the phone, that tests had unexpectedly shown secondary cancer in her liver, a rare primary cancer being in the bile duct - cholangiocarcinoma, and that no treatment was possible at this advanced state.

After exceptional care from the Community Nursing Team and Hospice at Home, mum was allowed to die with dignity in her own bed with her family beside her.