Beryl Rose Diffey (16 May 1934 - 2 Feb 2026)

In loving memory of Beryl Rose Diffey who sadly passed away on 2nd February 2026, aged 91 years.

Beryl will be deeply missed by son Gerald, daughter Sharon, family and friends.

All were welcome to join the family at St Mary the Virgin Church, Upchurch for Beryl's service on 26 Feb 2026 at 10.30 am, which was followed by a Private Committal attended by immediate family at the Garden of England Crematorium, Bobbing. The service was a celebration of the life of a wonderful lady and a life that was well lived.

Her eulogy was read by son Gerald ....

On behalf of my sister Sharon, our family and myself, we would like to welcome everybody to this celebration of the life of our dear Mum - Beryl Rose Diffey.

Mum was born 16th of May 1934 to Daisy and Sid Southby – a huge bundle of joy weighing in at a mere 11 pounds and 11 ounces!

Mum lived in Leyton in East London with her sister Doreen but when she was only six, the blitz destroyed their home and they ended up moving around a lot until they were rehoused in Walthamstow. After school, Mum attended secretarial college and began a career as a shorthand typist by day but enjoying the dance halls by night with best friend Iris and later her dear cousin Vera. It was on one such evening at the Tottenham Royal Dance Hall that she met our dad, Don Diffey which was to be the start of a 70 year-long romance.

For those of you who joined us to say farewell to our dad Don in 2023, you would have heard Mum deliver a cracking eulogy which included a part on how Don and Beryl met, how cricket was central to their courtship and how Mum had to propose to Dad! They both had a love of vintage cars, and spent many happy days attending rallies and arguing about which direction to take. Their beloved Humbers took them on great adventures across the UK and Europe.

They intended to marry in Spring 1957 and were anticipating early married life living in Nan and Grandad’s spare room. However, by chance they visited aunty Doreen and her husband Bert on the caravan site at Otterham Quay (as Bert was based in the Navy at Chatham) and heard that a caravan had unexpectedly come up for sale. They immediately snapped it up, brought the wedding forward by 6 months and moved in! It was certainly more preferable than living with Nan and Grandad!

Mum and Doreen were especially close, and Mum cherished a simple plaque that Doreen gave her as a gift not long before she herself died. It reads “Sisters by chance, friends by choice.” I am sure they are together, with their husbands sharing a laugh and reminiscing about the many boating holidays they enjoyed.

In 1960, Mum and Dad purchased some land in Upchurch, and Dad designed the family home, only to have my expectant Mum insist that Gransdens finish her dream house as the caravan was no longer big enough to accommodate their new born and all her baggage!

Settling into village life, I came along. I was literally born at home surrounded by love and security.

In 1967 they purchased the cottage next door and moved Nan and Grandad out of London. It was a lovely time having our grandparents next door - another pair of eyes, ears and hands so that Mum and Dad could work and sometimes play.

Mum and Dad were very active in village life and Mum particularly in the church. We can see how admired and respected they both were with so many people here today. Mum was a volunteer for the Church, initially dressing the altar cloths and latterly helping with the porch sale and being on tea duty. And after Dad died, Mum was often at the cricket club helping Nina with the catering and just being part of village cricket life and loving being in the thick of things.

Mum always worked. First for Furriers in Oxford Street where she learned shorthand and typing, then the GPO as an evening telephonist, then McAlpines where she met her longtime friend Edna and latterly as a medical secretary at Medway Hospital making yet more firm friends. What you may not know is that Mum aspired to be an actress and tried for some years to tread the boards professionally but ultimately had to give up her dream to find a paid job and help with the household bills! Her love of the stage however and her early exposure to audiences was quite possibly how she amazed us all by managing to deliver such eloquent eulogies for not only her beloved Don but also both her parents and her sister – what a talent!

Mum also aspired to be a writer, wrote lots of short stories and tried to get her stories published but sadly without success. However, she finally got in print when she wrote about my exploits in travelling to Australia and published “Antipodes or Bust”.

Your wonderful tributes and our personal memories of Mum are of a kind, generous, strong and wonderful woman who always took pride in her appearance and never felt completely dressed without her adored Channel No5.

She had boundless energy (she prided herself on being one of the fittest 91-year-olds in Upchurch) and a strong sense of independence. This is something she instilled in Sharon and I - we were brought up to be able to look after ourselves. She encouraged us to be good students and take responsibility for our future and in that, she absolutely succeeded. She gave me all the confidence and indestructability to go travelling and see the world. She encouraged me to spread my wings – she always knew it was something I had to do - but although she never said it, I do think it broke her heart that I never came back! It takes a very special individual to play that game - it’s called love.

Family was everything to Mum and she was indeed a fantastic mother to me and Sharon, mother-in-law to Bob and Esther, grandmother to Flo, Johnny and Alice, Axel and Yve and great-grandmother to Elvis, Louis and Pearl. She loved nothing better than linking up every week on zoom and when the great grandchildren joined us, it was chaotic but a chaos that Mum loved as these calls were mostly the only times she got to see the great-grandkids.

Mum was 90 in May 2024 and during that time she was blessed to be able to celebrate with almost all of her family throughout the year – her children, grandchildren, nieces and nephew and finally meet her great grandchildren in person, which was a great joy to her. Always full of verve and energy and enjoying her weekly Pilates on zoom until frustratingly being diagnosed with a terminal illness in late November last year.

During that time, Sharon was a huge support to Mum and I’d like to thank her for always looking after her and Dad, and to Bob for the kindness he showed them both. You and Mum had a beautiful bond and in her final days she called you, her angel. She fulfilled her wish in being able to die in her own home and I will always be thankful that you were there to care for her.

Sharon and I will be forever indebted to Mum’s commitment, love and dedication to us. She will always be with us, encouraging us, supporting us, sitting on our shoulders and quietly guiding us with her charm, authority, enthusiasm and dynamic optimism.

Sweet dreams my love.