Rosemary Angela Webb (27 Aug 1943 - 31 Aug 2018)

In loving memory of Rosemary Angela Webb who sadly passed away on 31st August 2018
Rosemary (my mum) was born in Surbiton hospital on 27th March 1943 to my Grandparents Lawrence and Mary Worsp and was taken back to their home at 426 Kingston Road.
They were not officially evacuated during the war but Lawrence was nervous and asked Mary to take baby Rosemary to Goodrington in Devon to stay with Mary’s mother, Grandma Anning. On the first night they arrived in Devon a V1 doodlebug landed on 426 and it was completely destroyed, along with the 3 houses either side.
On their return to London they lived in a prefab on the Scots Farm Estate, until 426 was re-built and they could eventually move back in. Mary remained in the same house until she had a fall and went into hospital and from there to a nursing home.
My brother subsequently moved into 426 with his wife Claire and their daughter Izzie and when they moved out, my mum and dad moved in. Mum was there until she moved to the nursing home in 2016 and dad remains there to this day.
From the age of 13 to 16 mum attended Pittman Secretarial College in London and at the age of 16 she got a job working in London as a personal secretary.
Also aged 16 she started attending a local church youth club, which is where she met my dad.
Mum was formally introduced to my dad when she was dating his friend Alan Honeyset, but when Alan had a serious motorbike accident he split up with mum because he didn’t feel it was fair on her due to the way he looked after the crash.
My dad took mum under his wing and took her to the occasional dance or to the pictures to cheer her up.
When dad was 18 he went off to University leaving mum in Ewell, but they continued ‘stepping out’ whenever he came home at weekends.
At Easter of 1961, when mum was aged 18 and dad 19, they officially became a couple and 2 years later dad proposed and luckily mum said yes.
They were married on 12th September 1964 and spent their Honeymoon touring the pubs of Wales. Unfortunately the weather was so bad that they came home early, but they didn’t tell anyone and finished the honeymoon in their new marital home at 56 Elmdene.
Mum continued to work in London, but following a fall down the stairs at no56 she unfortunately had to leave and instead got a job at Albrights in Red Lion Road, where she stayed until getting pregnant with my brother in 1968.
Alex was born on 9th November 1968 and in 1969 the 3 of them moved to 11 The Byeways. I came alone on 23rd January 1970 and mum stayed at home to look after the pair of us and be a homemaker.
In 1981/82 after I started secondary school mum got a job at Roy Smith Motors in Kingston, which subsequently moved to New Malden and mum went with them.
In around 1986 mum changed jobs and started working for a software company in Tolworth Tower. One of my lasting memories is of her bringing home fish and chips every Friday from a place behind Tolworth Broadway. This later changed hands and is now my favourite Chinese takeaway (Choi’s Wok).
Everything was great until mum had a serious car accident in August 1987 where she suffered major whiplash that would have repercussions for the rest of her life and may ultimately have resulted in the early onset Alzheimer’s due to the ‘brain shake’. Even with the chronic pain mum continued working and with her ‘can-do’ attitude she kept everything together for the rest of us.
Unfortunately in 1990 fate took another nasty turn when Dad was made redundant. This was a hard time because mum became the sole earner, even though working was becoming increasingly difficult due to the constant back pain. I was away at Art College in St Albans so I wasn’t always around but Alex was still living at home and I got to see them all at weekends, when I brought my washing home. ;)
Later that same year the Software Company moved to Weybridge and as a valued employee mum moved with them, but the additional travel soon became too much for her and she reluctantly had to leave in 1991.
After 7 years of being unemployed dad managed to re-train and got a job at Richmond Council and later went part time at Tiffin Girls School. Mum went back to being a homemaker but the neck pain was constant and was unfortunately made worse by becoming the sole carer for her Mother, my Grandmother, Mary.
After suffering a fall in the M&S carpark mum had various scans and they found she had left side brain shrinkage, which in 2006 was finally diagnosed as Alzheimer’s.
For as long as he could Dad continued to look after mum at home and was taking her to The Amy Woodgate Centre once a week, then twice and eventually every day, to give himself a break but also so she could interact with other people. She thought she worked there and insisted on helping the people who were worse off than she was by feeding them and doing anything else they needed. Unfortunately the Alzheimer’s progressed to the point where mum could no longer support her own body weight and dad was told she could no longer attend the centre.
Dad and I started the renovation plans for The Byeways to convert it for wheelchair access with a downstairs shower room and bedroom for mum, but following a series of urine infections mum was hospitalised in December 2015 and in January 2106 she was moved from 426 to Lynton Hall nursing home in New Malden.
Dad and I continued with the renovation of The Byeways, but changed the plans to suit our requirements instead of mums’. We made it so that it worked for my needs on a daily basis but also had the ability for dad to stay whenever he needed to and move in permanently if and when the time comes. After many years of planning, and 9 months of building work, I finally moved back into my old family home just before Christmas 2017.
Throughout the building work dad still visited mum every day, even if it was only to kiss her goodnight.
Lynton Hall provided excellent care until the Alzheimer’s naturally progressed to the point where mum’s brain was no longer sending the right signals to trigger her to swallow and she quietly slipped away at 3.20pm on Friday 31st August 2018. Unfortunately neither dad nor I could get there in time, but mum wasn’t alone and she is now finally released from the agony that is such a cruel and debilitating disease.
Thank you to everyone for your cards, flowers and well wishes. My mum was a wonderful, kind, caring lady and it warms my heart to know how loved and respected she was by all who knew her.
The official invitation to the funeral will be sent to everyone individually but the details are as follows:
Date: Monday 24th September 2018
Arrival: 2.00-2.15pm
Service: 2.30-3.30pm approximately
Address: Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin Cuddington, The Avenue, Worcester Pk, KT4 7HL
Parking: On street (please leave the Church car park free for the hearse, family, and officials)
And afterwards at 11 The Byeways, Berrylands, Surbiton, Surrey, KT5 8HT from 4.00/4.30pm.
Regarding flowers, mum really didn’t like the idea of cut flowers because she loved to see them growing and hated the fact that as soon as they are cut they start to die, so in lieu of flowers we would ask that people please donate to one of the 3 charities set up on this site. Thank you.
Dad, Alex and I hope you can join us on the 24th September to celebrate mum’s life and mourn her passing. She was my angel on earth and will be dearly missed.
Natasha