Susan Kaye (23 Jan 1959 - 14 Jun 2025)

In loving memory of Susan Kaye who sadly passed away on 14th June 2025

Sue lived her early life in St. John's just outside Woking. She had an older brother, Chris. Sadly for both of them, their mother died when Sue was seven years old. But despite this the pair were well looked after and brought up in a kind and loving environment. Their father quickly remarried, had two children with his new wife and a family of six was established.

When Sue left school in the late seventies she was a hairdresser. She loved it. It was all she wanted to do. She started as a Saturday girl, and then she did her training and went on to work full time in a salon. 'Dancing Queen' by Abba is a joyful song from those times, and it perfectly captures the image of Sue the happy, noisy teenage girl going down the market with her mates on Friday lunchtime. And buying cheap clothes to wear out partying and dancing at the weekend.

Sue married young but it didn't work out so in the early eighties she left the marriage and started working for a tour company in Europe. In the area of coach/camping. It was while in France that she first met Pete. They both worked for the same company - Tentrek. Both of them were going out with other people at the time but they got together in 1986, gave up Tentrek and moved to Cornwall.

Pete's family lived in Devon and they took to Sue immediately. Especially Pete's mum who called her 'Lovely Sue' and was over the moon to have gained the daughter that she had never had herself. Particularly this daughter who arrived fully fledged at the age of 27, so Pete's mum hadn't had to manage the nuisance teenage years - that was down to Sheila, her step-mum.

After doing odd jobs in Cornwall for a couple of years Sue & Pete put some areas of their experience with Tentrek together and came up with the idea of starting a mobile tent repairing business. This would involve travelling around Europe, staying on campsites and repairing tents for holiday companies. So on the strength of a notional nod from Tentrek that work would be forthcoming from them, in the winter of 88/89 the pair spent £600 on an industrial sewing machine. Neither of them had used one before. But the business was a success, and it ticked so many lifestyle boxes for them. To the point where, as recently as November 2024, Sue was still hauling heavy tents about.

In 1999 they moved to Mellis in Suffolk. Sue became part of the community in a small nearby town called Eye. She found a job she loved - as the Eye Street Carer. She became a well known figure in the town, keeping the central area of the town tidy, emptying the bins and caring for the flower beds. No one (least of all her) was entirely confident that, as a woman, she would be up to the job of pushing a barrow around when she first started. The local paper thought she was a bit of a novelty and came and took a picture of her. But no one need have worried. She quickly made the job her own and soon became a much loved person around the town. For two main reasons. Firstly, because she didn't just do the job by rote. If she saw that something needed doing she did it. And secondly, she seemed to be irrepressibly cheerful about it.

The love, respect and gratitude that people felt for her was reflected in the four civic awards she received over the twenty years she did the job. And these awards were voted for by the towns people. They weren't just in the gift of the councillors of the day.

Sue was a kind soul - she was always cheerful. Even faced with her diagnosis, she bravely faced it head on and her spirit shone through, even at such a difficult time.

A light has gone out, that is undoubtable and life will never be the same for those who knew her, especially for Pete, but the memories will carry on.