Doreen Hook (9 Aug 1930 - 12 Jul 2023)

In loving memory of Doreen Hook who passed away peacefully at home on 12 July 2023 at the age of 92.

Doreen was born at Allington Castle in 1930. Her parents, Robert and May Tucker, lived in a cottage in the grounds and worked for the Conway family. They moved to East Farleigh and later to New Road, Ditton, where Doreen grew up with her two sisters, Joyce and Pamela.

Doreen attended primary schools in East Farleigh and Ditton and secondary school at Teapot Lane and the Technical High School for Girls in Maidstone, where she learnt shorthand and typing.

Much of Doreen’s childhood was during wartime and she often talked about how hard her parents worked to ensure that the family was well fed and cared for during times of shortages and rationing. She helped her dad with their large vegetable garden and his 2 allotments, and looked after the rabbits that he bred for food - but Doreen loved animals and would never eat rabbit!

During the war, the 3 sisters used to sleep under the dining table, and Doreen recalled the night a bomb landed in the field at the back of the house, and her mum dived in on top of them. On the day the war ended, Doreen dressed up her beloved dog, Judy, in a red, white and blue scarf and walked around the village.

She met her husband, Ron, at the Walnut Tree pub in Ditton where she used to go with her parents. She already knew who he was, as she had noticed him riding his bike along the London Road. On their first date, a trip to Maidstone on the bus, he forgot her name! Happily, she overlooked this and they fell in love. They enjoyed going to the cinema, having trips to the countryside and going dancing. They were engaged to be married when Ron had the serious road accident that would change the course of their lives. Doreen stood by him and they were married on 3 May 1952 at Holy Trinity church Larkfield, where Ron had once been a choirboy.

They moved to a flat in Maidstone and a few months after their first daughter, Carol, was born in 1954, Ron had his left leg amputated below the knee. Despite having a new baby to care for, Doreen made the long journey to visit Ron in hospital many times. Life was hard for them in the flat, so they went to live with Ron’s parents for a while before moving to a council flat at Brooklands Road, Larkfield and later to their house in East Malling, which remained the family home.

They had 3 more children, Christopher, Rosemary and Martyn, and although money was tight, they enjoyed a happy family life with picnics, outings to the seaside and trips to Ditton for Sunday tea with Doreen’s parents, sometimes calling in at the Walnut Tree on the way home for packets of crisps and a Vimto. They enjoyed family holidays to Leysdown, Bournemouth and the New Forest.

Doreen’s first job was as a shorthand typist, and she worked for a number of years at Reeds paper mill. As the family grew, Doreen gave up her office job and took on other roles to fit in around the children - farm work picking fruit in the summer and plucking turkeys in the winter, as well as doing shift work at Kimberly Clark. When the children were older, she worked full time at Kimberly Clark and stayed there until she retired in 1993.

Doreen didn’t have much spare time, but she enjoyed knitting, reading and doing crosswords as well as occasionally going to bingo. As the grandchildren came along she loved having them to stay and taking them out for the day. Food was an important factor and she would always make sure that visitors were well catered for and often wanted to know what everyone was having for dinner! She was a home-loving person and never happier than being in her own home with her beloved cats, many of which were strays she had rescued. She was a devoted wife to Ron, and with her love and constant support, he was able to live a full and rewarding life.

Doreen was a much loved wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother. She will be sadly missed and lovingly remembered by her whole family.