Edna Margaret Wade
Edna was born in her grandmother’s house in Cheltenham on 5th April 1930. Her earliest memory, aged 3, was when she had scarlet fever and she remembered the farm her Dad made for her for when she came out of hospital.
The family moved to Birmingham in 1933. Their house was bombed during the war and Edna, aged 10, was rescued from the rubble along with her teddy bear, Fred. He was her companion and support during this difficult time as she was separated from her parents who were in another hospital. Fred is here now today, still by her side.
When the family reunited they spent happier times together and celebrated the end of the war, a significant memory for Edna.
At school, Edna’s favourite subjects were history and geography and she also learned secretarial skills. She started a typing job with an export company at 17 and then moved on to work for an insurance broker. After this, she joined the City of Birmingham gas department working for various managers until she was promoted to secretary to the Personnel Manager at West Midlands Gas Board.
In her teens she joined the guides and was the Akela for the Birmingham St Mary's cub pack until she was 25. It was during the monthly church parades at St Mary's Church in Moseley that she met her husband Vernon who was in the church choir. They would meet up after church and go on dates with other friends and attend dances together. They married at St Mary's church on 13th June 1953 with the cub scouts forming a guard of honour.
Three years later she gave birth to her eldest son Nigel and started what she said, in her own words, was the most rewarding and interesting job of raising her children. She went on to have three more children; Susan, Laurence and Caroline. Vernon and Edna also had another child, sadly lost at birth, and who Edna always held close to her heart.
The family moved from Birmingham to Coventry for a period, eventually moving to Southampton in 1969 when Vernon was offered a job with British Gas.
In the 1970's Edna went back to work using her secretarial skills for temping work and finally settled into a permanent position at British Gas as a personal secretary to a Director which she enjoyed very much. She eventually took early retirement in her late fifties.
Edna and Vernon enjoyed their retirement, particularly as grandparents to Michaela, Lauren, Marcus, Elena, Harrison and Jessica. They also enjoyed their new hobby of travel, taking many holidays in Europe and eventually getting the cruise bug when Vernon retired in 1993. Edna and Vernon lived their retirement to the full!
Sadly, she lost Vernon in 2009 but carried on with cruising around the world, getting ever more adventurous in her solo travels. She went to Norway, Russia and Greenland and loved the bustle of New York. Edna loved being around people and meeting up with family and friends. She was full of fun, loved a good natter and a giggle and made friends wherever she went.
Edna was an avid reader of many books, from biographies to murder mysteries. She treasured the Chalet School books she had collected since she was a child and which she re-read on many occasions. She was particularly interested in history, politics and archaeology and had an impressive general knowledge. You always wanted her on your team for Trivial Pursuits and her mind and memory stayed razor sharp right to the end.
As Edna’s arthritic knee and war wounds (as she referred to them) started to impact on her mobility, she started to embrace the digital world even more than she had before. She loved doing her banking and shopping online and liked to ask Alexa challenging questions! She played games and puzzles through the apps on her tablet and kept in touch with family and friends via email, Facebook and Skype. Edna was very much in charge of her life, organising her own carers, cleaner, gardener and trades people and she operated the house electronically from one set of buttons. Edna, for all her 88 years, was a modern woman, living in modern times and always ready to try new things.
She was the centre point for all family get-togethers with regular meals out and at home, often with over 15 family members around her large table. It’s testament to her fun and love of family that many of her grandchildren chose to celebrate significant birthdays at Edna’s house. She loved seeing all her children and grandchildren together and was delighted to become a Great Grandmother in October to Abigail Louisa.
Edna was a wonderful woman, full of life and fun. She was an only child and always wanted to have siblings (if only to take the blame for when she was naughty) and was so happy to have a large family. She was a real giggler, loved playing board games and having a natter over a glass or two of shiraz, with her whole family around her. She gave total, unquestioning love and support and will be sorely missed by all her family and friends who will hold her forever in their hearts.