Colleen Heather Williams (4 Aug 1927 - 28 May 2021)

God Bless Aunty Colleen, for the wave of truly delightful childhood memories I get when I think to my times spent with you and Uncle Ken .... it was like going on holiday in the back of Kens Hillman Imp Car, so posh for its day, there was just so much to do in rural Tamworth over looking a leafy park !
Walk the dogs, visit the Castle, play in the yard on a borrowed bike, clean out “Chippy” the bird !
But best of all climb into bed with you in the morning as Ken bought up our tea, sheets were floral I felt like a Princess xxx thank you sleep tight Aunty Coll xx

Colleen's Eulogy from the Service

Colleen had a difficult childhood having been born, in 1927, to parents who were not married and was left with a foster family.
She was 12 when she found out that the foster family were not her birth family. The foster family members either said they didn’t know who or where her birth parents were, or refused to discuss it.
Colleen was born with TB in her spine and hip. Being very poorly as a young child, she was frequently in hospital, wore a body brace for years, did not walk until she was 5 and did not start school until she was 7. She struggled at school because of the late start and because she was quite deaf – something that no one seemed to have identified. She hated the fact that the teachers had to carry her to the toilet.
She recalled it was hard to have or make friends because no one wanted to play with her. This had an enduring effect on her and through out her adult life Colleen always wanted to be friends with every one she met.
By age 26 the TB had moved into one of her kidneys. The kidney was removed and she was sent to Hale Hospital in Cornwall to recuperate. The prognosis at that time was that she was unlikely to live for much more than 6 months.
Colleen lived the rest of her long life as if it were the last 6 months. She also met fellow patient, Cornish girl Shirley in Hale Hospital and they remained close friends for life.
Unable to work full time she was told to leave her foster home. Neighbours Chris and Hylda took her in and Colleen was offered a room in Hylda’s father’s home. At age 28 Colleen married Hylda’s brother Ken.
She always said her life only started when she met Ken – she had someone who loved her and a family that cared for her. Sadly, the TB damage had also meant that Colleen was not able to have children.
Colleen and Ken bought and lived in a caravan in Brownhills and then Burntwood. They moved to Tamworth in the early 1960s living in various homes in the area.
Together they gathered children around them like pied pipers. They had children of friends and family to stay with them, took them on holidays, for outings and spoilt them with love. They were Godparents to so many children.
They were never without a pet – dogs, cats and birds, sometimes all at once, Colleen loved her pets too.
Together they travelled to Italy, Switzerland, Amsterdam, Spain, Germany and many more.
Ken bought Colleen her first hearing aid. She said that was also life changing. She learned, self-taught, to play the piano and later in life the accordion, which she played in a band.
Colleen had many jobs over the years: working in factories, offices, as a bar maid, a cleaner, a home help and as a volunteer at the RNLI shop in her later years.
She was always up for a challenge: in her 80s and widowed, she travelled to Texas to visit her Goddaughter Kim. She bought and learned to use a computer. She could text at lightening speed on her mobile phone.
After years of fruitless searches to find her birth parents, some kind friends with genealogy experience tracked down Colleen’s half-brother – she was 87.
Colleen was kind and generous and hated any kind of confrontation. She was always laughing and smiling where ever she went.

Dear Colleen
It has been an absolute pleasure to have known you. I believe you are the kindest, nicest person I have ever met. I will treasure your memories and wish you good morning each day, along with my Andy. You will be surrounded by chuckles, smiles and laughter because these are what you bring out in everyone. Sleep well Coll and God bless.
Love Rose xxxx

You will be sadly missed. A beautiful lady with a big heart and a lovely smile .

Thank you Aunty Coll for a lifetime of happy memories.

always be in my thoughts friends since 1953 63 years will miss your visits to falmouth love from all here in falmouth

Such a lovely lady. Always with a big cheeky grin on her face. You will be missed by so many people.

Fond memories of happy times. Love from Teresa Mark Angela & Wal xxx

One of the most cheerful ladies I have ever known

I didn’t meet Colleen until she was in her 80s, but she was an irrepressible spirit, never without a huge grin on her face. We shared a birthday and she never let me forget we were ‘Leo’ friends. I will miss you Coll.

In memory of my dear friend