Brenda Olive Robertson (2 Apr 1940 - 1 Mar 2026)

Brenda Olive Robertson passed away in Ipswich Hospital on March 1st, 2026, aged 85 years. Dearly loved wife to Brian, mum to Wendy and Ian, grandmother and great grandmother. Funeral Service at St Catherine's Church, Ringshall on Wednesday 1st April 2026 at 1:00pm. Dress code, smart casual, no black. Family flowers only please, but donations if desired, for ‘Glaucoma UK’ can be made via the just giving link or sent care of Andrew Bingham Independent Funeral Service, 2 Charles Industrial Estate, Stowmarket, Suffolk, IP14 5AH. Tel.01449 771666.

A brief biography:-
Brenda was born just a few months after the beginning of WW2.
She was evacuated from London to the countryside.
She was the eldest and last survivor of three siblings.

She left school at 15, in those days school careers officers encouraged girls to be either nurses or secretaries. The officer who encountered Brenda must have been somewhat affronted to be told that she had already organised her job and that it wouldn’t involve emptying bed pans or typing.

She went to work in a large drawing office as a trainee draughtswoman. There she was a woman in a man’s world, a multitude of men and just a very few women.
This was at a time when miniskirts were in fashion. I leave it to your imagination to wonder how a five foot nothing young woman in high heels managed to reach the top of the board with decorum.

Enjoyed sport, especially swimming and ballroom dancing.
Married Alan and brought up two children, Ian and Wendy, who are a credit to their parents.
She had three grandchildren, Jemma, Sophie and Joshua and three great grandchildren, Ollie, Esmae and Archie.
Worked evenings at various jobs to help support her young family. Served in a fish and chip shop, worked for Marconi soldering printed circuit boards, packed chickens.
She had a small village store and post office.

Divorced and some many years later married Brian.
Got engaged in 1998 and in 1999 married Brian in Sri Lanka.
After that Brenda developed itchy feet and started planning the next holiday soon after arriving home.
The holidays were always planned around the needs of the garden.
Developed a liking for cruises, visiting different places, living a life of luxury for a couple of weeks, posh food, no house work, no cooking and no washing up.

In November 2023 whilst returning from a cruise to the Canaries the ship lost all propulsion in the Bay of Biscay during a storm, force 11, with 11 m. high waves. For nineteen hours the ship rolled violently until the engineers were able to restore propulsion.

Brenda, in her normal indomitable fashion, was not deterred and in 2024 we went on a cruise to the Caribbean during which she picked up an infection and became seriously ill, spending three weeks in hospital in Portsmouth. She was told that it was because she was so fit that she survived.

She became ill again towards the end of 2025 and was eventually admitted to hospital with a similar infection in February of this year. Regrettably, on this occasion, her body was too weak to fight the illness and she succumbed to it.

She was a thrifty person, always on the lookout for a bargain. Shopping involved trips to Aldi, Lidl and as a last resort Tesco.

She was taken shopping by Wendy to buy a mother of the bride outfit for her forthcoming marriage. She was not amused, having spent in one day more on clothes than she would normally spend in a year.

Brenda was a keen gardener and over the course of around twenty two years transformed our garden from a patch of grass and a few shrubs into a mature, colourful and peaceful place.
She would be appalled to see the state of the garden now.

Brenda will be missed but not forgotten.

Memories:-
From Grand daughter Jemma - I would meet nan on Fridays for lunch when I worked in Ipswich after she had done her aqua workout.
Always had mini muffins in the freezer.
Brian introduced her to posh holidays and her love for cruises.

From grandson in law Ben – Heard about Lidl and Aldi from her years before they actually properly took off here.