In loving memory of Heidi Galvin who sadly passed away on 23rd December 2025.
Heidi was based in Germany from aged 2 until she was 8. She spent a lot of time next door with her grandparents who gave her freedom to roam the village and a grounding in the natural cadence of village life, including rearing, growing and preserving their own food. This seemed to vary from the idyllic (Heidi could whistle the pigeon she rescued down from the trees, and it would follow her to school) to the macabre (when Heidi couldn't find the rabbit that she made her pet against the rules, then finding out that it was in the pot).
She was naturally precocious, and would recount taking a bus journey for several miles as a three year old, and being brought back unphased to her worried mother when an adult noticed her wandering.
She was clever and quick thinking, a trait nurtured by her uncle who would pose maths questions and funny quips to stimulate her mind. He also encouraged her adventurous streak by taking her to the shop in his scooter and allowing her to drive home even though she was still in primary school.
Heidi moved with the family around England and Germany and drifted through the school system. She was well respected though, and her last school employed her as the school secretary in a British Army school in Germany direct from leaving school.
Heidi moved with her family one more time and had to give up the school secretary job, moving to England and then back to the village in Germany where she grew up.
Heidi had enjoyed growing up with her cousins Stephan and Nadine and their Dad, Terry, may be rest in peace, always looked out for Heidi, both growing up and in her first German job in Celle. She could go to him with any problem and he would always go out of his way to help resolve it.
She met and married a british soldier and they spent their early 20s in Germany before moving to England where they went their separate ways.
Heidi met her next husband (lucky old me) in Milton Keynes on the factory floor for a lighting manufacturer, Interlux. She was an agency worker starting on night shift.
Heidi learned all the processes and started teaching newer employees and proposing improvements, becoming team leader and joining the operations team. That was her favourite job because of the dynamic environment and the leadership role she was given.
When the company moved to Dudley, Heidi moved down to Southend-on-Sea, where we got married and, much later, and to her surprise, her son Conor entered her life.
Heidi was forewarned, because on our honeymoon to Sri Lanka, her interest in astrology led her to a fortune teller who predicted a life-changing event in her early forties, and told her she would have a child. She didn't think that was possible, so pushed it aside, but the prediction came true in June 2012 with the birth of Conor.
They have been inseparable ever since, the longest separation being Heidi's recent stays in hospital and a trip to Ireland last year for Conor to meet his grandparents and cousins.
Heidi was unaware of her underlying liver cirrhosis which left her with 30% liver function, and had been a condition for over 20 years. It does seem to have contributed to her increasingly opting out from activities. Covid took its toll on everyone, but obviously further weakened Heidi and left her susceptible to leg ulcers, an extremely painful that is also dangerous because of the risk of infection. Heidi went to hospital several times because of infection and it was an infection combined with her low liver function that caused her death on 23 December 2025.
Heidi lived a rich, full life. It was rich and full because of the warmth, confidence and consideration she gave to all that were close to her.
When she was in primary school Heidi could literally whistle the birds down from the trees... Well she could call down one particular pigeon called peeps, who was probably as unique as Heidi herself. Her grandad had found him with a broken wing and she had nursed back to health.
This was an analogy for her life. She lived it in the knowledge of the frailty of life and the need to live it to its full and to make good friends that she could count on.
Heidi is survived by Erika, her mother, Conor her son and Bob, her husband, who all miss her warmth, her ideas, her intelligence, her leadership and her love.
May Heidi rest in peace.
Donations warmly received for Legs Matter Charity; Working together to increase awareness, understanding and action on lower leg and foot conditions among the public and healthcare professionals to avoid harm.
Funeral Service details are available under Heidi's beautiful photo.
The online streaming link to the Service is available via the Obitus website link on this page.
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