ForeverMissed
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This memorial website was created in memory of our loved one, Susan Oliver. We will remember her forever.
March 5
March 5
Hello Mum,
Just to say spring is coming soon and that reminds me of
daffodils at coachman’s.
Thinking of you.
June 19, 2023
June 19, 2023
I visited Cley marshes the other day for some bird watching, then went to Kelling heath in the evening where later on we will be hopefully able to hear the Nightjar and Nightingale. The Norfolk strawberries are nearly ready and John and I had a delicious Cromer crab on the Pier the other day. I mention these things only in appreciation of your love of life's basic pleasures. Lots and lots of love XOX
December 5, 2022
December 5, 2022
Hello Mum,
Happy Christmas and Happy new year!
Thinking of you at this time.
x
June 12, 2022
June 12, 2022
Hello Mum,

Happy belated birthday to you for 24th May.

xx
March 24, 2022
March 24, 2022
Dear Mum I am sitting here in my wonderful new flat sun streaming through the window and thinking it has got your guiding hand running right through it. I know you can read my mind from where ever you are, which is better than that infernal hospital bed in your bedroom with well meaning people buzzing about. I will keep your legacy to the world going to the best of my abilities. Lots and lots of love XXXOOOXXX
January 22, 2022
January 22, 2022
Hello Mum,

Just to let you know Winter is here.
So jumpers at the ready!
xx
December 13, 2021
December 13, 2021
Dear Mum,

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
missing you.
Remember you at this time.

love mary
xx
April 15, 2021
April 15, 2021
An unlikely source I know but three quotes from the film Paddington 2 that remind me of mum are:
"Paddington wouldn't hesitate if any of us needed help. He looks for the good in all of us"
"Paddington looks for the good in all of us, and somehow he finds it"
"If we are kind and polite the world will be right"
This in turn reminded me of a quote by Oscar Wilde (I am not sure who he was talking about) but he said " the trouble is they know the cost of everything but they don't know the value of anything" It goes without saying mum knew the value of everything.
April 11, 2021
April 11, 2021
Mum taught me to feel from the heart not the head. She introduced me to wonderful music like Mozart's clarinet concerto (which I have added to this site) and the great mystery which is Catholicism. All things you can feel deeply for but have no explanation. The wonderful thing is it doesn't need explanation.
Mum came from a Upper middle class background and as children we gently scoffed at her trying to stick with it's morays and tradition. I now know she wanted to respect her upbringing and celebrate all that was good about being part of a class that was gentle and respected everyone no matter who they were or where they came from.
There are two sorts of snob the one who wants to feel superior to others and the one who enjoys the finer things in life and would dearly love everyone to experience those things. Mum was definitely the latter.
Mum really tried hard to give me an education so I could do well in life. It's just a shame I didn't have the vocabulary or gumption to explain to her my strengths laid in practical pursuits. I could have saved her a lot of grief.
I did manage to provide entertainment at family gatherings when mum could relate back stories of narrow misses she had with me. Like the time I jumped off a train, while it was waiting to depart from a German station, leaving her, John and all our luggage while I tried to buy some film for my camera. I only just got back in time much to her great relief.
Thank you very much mum you taught me well how to behave in this world I intend to pick up your baton and continue running with it xxxxxxx

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Recent Tributes
March 5
March 5
Hello Mum,
Just to say spring is coming soon and that reminds me of
daffodils at coachman’s.
Thinking of you.
June 19, 2023
June 19, 2023
I visited Cley marshes the other day for some bird watching, then went to Kelling heath in the evening where later on we will be hopefully able to hear the Nightjar and Nightingale. The Norfolk strawberries are nearly ready and John and I had a delicious Cromer crab on the Pier the other day. I mention these things only in appreciation of your love of life's basic pleasures. Lots and lots of love XOX
Her Life

Short biography

March 31, 2021
Her dad was a lieutenant in the Royal Navy which meant she was born in Malta because he was stationed there. Her dad was John Brett and he was the grandson of John Brett the Pre-Raphaelite painter who's works are displayed in leading galleries around the country. John Brett the painter was a friend of John Ruskin. On Susan's mother's side she was the great-granddaughter of a Lord Mayor of London (Sir James Whitehead) who was Mayor in the early part of the twentieth century.

Susan grew up in Porchester, Hampshire. She used to love sailing on the River Dart with her father and a friend of the family known as Uncle Bill. She deeply regretted not really being able to know her dad as he was killed in the war. He died when she was 11. That is why memories like her dad and his friend Bill Hammond building little dinghies together were so precious. Her dad was on the HMS Gloucester a ship known as the Fighting G which was put in an impossible position in the Mediterranean in the early part of the second world war and was sunk by Stuka bombers. Her father received the Distinguished Service Cross for telling the ships surgeon to treat the ratings first before him. Susan went to collect the medal from the King. In her teens she struggled with anxiety due to her father's death.

When her dad died she was in an all female household - her grandmother who she adored, her mother and her sister. Her brother was only a baby.

Her school was evacuated to Cheshire. Unbeknownst to her her future husband was at school nearby.

She went to St Andrews University to study ancient history. Her future husband, Michael, worked at the engineering works at Crewe during the war but then decided to go to St Andrews which is where he met Susan.

They got married in 1951 and had their honeymoon in Paris. They lived in Hampstead, London. Susan worked for the Royal Astronomical Society. She told us people used to phone in to ask about their star sign not realising.

They had their first two daughters while in London, two sons in Horstead, Norfolk and two more daughters and a son in East Runton, Norfolk. Michael worked in print design in London and then got a job at Jarrolds of Norwich which was why the family moved to Norfolk.

She was a house wife for 10 years of married life. As soon as her youngest son was old enough she went to the University of East Anglia to study modern languages. She lived for a year in Germany as part of this course. Later on she planned to help with the household finances by completing a law course. However when it came to getting in-house experience of law work she became a victim of ageism.

She loved to talk in French and German. She also loved playing the piano, playing tennis and swimming. Michael started a school for English as a foreign language which subsequently became a private school and Susan taught in this school. Subsequently she set herself up as a private tutor doing this until she was in her eighties. She taught English, French, German, Latin and Maths as her main subjects.

She always needed the stimulation friendships gave her.

She was a very softly spoken and considerate person. Strangers probably got the impression she was a push over but no she was a quiet force to be reckoned with.

Recent stories

correction

April 15, 2021
This is in fact a picture of Mum and Dad with two friends. Unfortunately I cannot remember their names. I remember mum saying he was an entreprenuer and enjoyed spending his money. I think he might have paid for the holiday.

Jack went through here

April 14, 2021
Here are three memories from mum's childhood, you will have to forgive any inaccuracies as they are second hand. At the bottom of mum's grandmother's garden was a hole in the fence and above it her grandmother had written "Jack went through here". As a boy mum's dad was nicknamed "jumping Jack ". As a girl mum lived in a cottage called Mimosa and her dad quipped he should rename it Verbosa Cottage. 

Mundesley village hall

April 12, 2021
Let It Go (From "Frozen") [Music Box Edition] - Let It Go (From "Frozen") [Music Box Edition]
To keep up the wonderful tradition of wonderful family Christmases, like we had at Incleborough house East Runton,  Frettenham rectory Norfolk, a chateau in Normandy,  Springfields in Buckinghamshire. Caroline (God rest her soul) organised some wonderful Christmases at Flaxman's farm Norfolk and as part of the entertainment she had arranged she booked us all in to see "Frozen" at Mundesley village Hall. It was such a delight for mum to have all the excited grandchildren and great grandchildren bouncing about.
It was even better when Christmases were extended by going to the Wyses House to meet up with our extended family.
Here is some music from the film to bring it all back. 

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