AUDREY JOHNSON: 27.3.29 - 9.6.19
Audrey was born in Almondbury in March 1929, one of six children to Norah and Joe. She spent many hours with her elder sister Joyce enjoying weekends away, shopping trips and jaunts into Huddersfield for lunch until Audrey became too ill to go.
Through her teenage years Audrey excelled at Table Tennis, representing England and Yorkshire. There was a scrap book of her life as a champion table tennis player on show at Fixby Hall for people to read.
She started her working life (as all the Bray sisters did) at her mum’s friend’s baby shop but soon progressed into office work at Hopkinson’s where she was to catch the eye of a handsome young apprentice engineer. She and Eric married in December 1950 and a couple of years later had a special delivery on Christmas Day in the form of daughter Linda.
Four years later Paul was born and their family, along with Jimmy the cat, was complete!
Paul and his wife Barbara were the first to make Audrey a very proud Grandma when Emily was born, soon to be followed by Grandson Ian.
Just as she thought she could enjoy a quiet and peaceful retirement, Linda surprised everyone with a further Grandson – Liam.
Family has always been central to Audrey’s world with annual trips to Scotland with Linda and all the grand-children giving us great memories of fun and frolics, particularly when we stayed next door to Edinburgh Zoo when she would wake up saying “What the …. Is that noise?” An alarm clock never has had the same impact since!
Holidays, also another important factor in Audrey’s life – never missing the opportunity to go away with her Sister’s and their husbands; Enid & Harold and more latterly Glenys & Dewi.
There were trips far too many to mention with Paul, Bar and their children and one over-riding word that resonates around all this and that word is ‘FUN’! Audrey was Fun to be with, Fun to have around and Fun in any social situation.
Audrey made lots of friends through Eric’s association with the Masonic Lodge, and it was lovely to see so many of them recently at Audrey’s 90th birthday party - remembering the happy times they shared.
There were also a few young men celebrating her life - their memories of Audrey are of seeing her almost every weekend on the touch line whilst supporting Liam at Rugby during the 7 years or so whilst at school. Such a stalwart of the rugby fraternity was Audrey that when she became ill during one game, the match was stopped, and the players came to carry her off to a waiting car to take her to hospital. As usual she bounced back to health after a bit of attention and our team went on to win the match, a good result all round!
In 2011 Audrey was diagnosed with a mixed form of Dementia and Alzheimer’s which has very slowly taken its toll not only on her but on all her family and friends. Over the years we have seen this vibrant, funny lady change into a shadow of her former self but, stubborn as ever, she would still say she was ‘fine’ when she so obviously wasn’t. Her denial of the illness stripping away her personality was, at times, to be admired but this also came with its challenges.
When her nephew Martin went to see her just a couple of weeks before she died, he asked her how she was, and she said to him ‘I’m fine’ - such was her defiance until the end.
RIP Mum
Linda
June 2019