Amelia Mary Parrish

“We hold you close within our hearts and there you shall remain” 

Mary passed away peacefully at home in the loving care of her daughter Marina on 25th July 2021 aged 81 years.

Her funeral took place at Crewe Crematorium Chapel on Wednesday 4th August at 10.45am

For further information and to offer your condolences, please telephone our Funeral Home on 01270 584447

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Amelia Mary Parrish, fondly known as Mary, was a lovely lady, she wasn’t just a
beloved mum to Marina, they were the best of friends who had spent over sixty years
together.
Mary was the last remaining sibling. She lost both her brothers, but she was
exceptionally close to Jean, her dearest friend for over forty years. The two of them
always called each other “Sis” and Marina always referred to Jean and her late
husband as Auntie Jean and Uncle Barry, so during lockdown, Mary and Jean
weren’t able to see each other as much and it was heart-breaking for them both.
Mary was a devoted wife to the late Clifford, she was a sister in law and an auntie.
She did have some special friends like Sheila and Les who went on many enjoyable
holidays with Mary and Cliff, they all loved going by coach with Shearings and also
flew abroad together to places like Austria.
Despite Cliff being in a wheelchair and getting progressively worse over the years,
he was very much like his wife, nothing ever stopped them enjoying himself. And
Mary was fond of Tom and Kevin from Nantwich, Tom and his stepson often went
with Mary to Alton Towers although Mary always chickened out of the rides! and
they used to go to the coast, Marina desperately wanted to take her to the coast
again, sadly it wasn’t to be.
More friends were Dawn and Martin who Mary and Marina used to clean for before
they moved to Matlock, Mary was delighted to get cards from them and kind gifts like
Whisky, Chocolates and Cake. Mary didn’t have many vices, but she did enjoy a
good-sized tot of whisky and a ciggy, and she loved a bit of John Wayne in the good
old Westerns on TV. She also liked watching CSI and nature programmes like
Country File. She also loved foil balloons for all occasions and the trips to the
viewing area at Manchester Airport with Allan to watch planes take off and land.
Living at Bradfield Road for many years, she had several good neighbours: Faye,
Alan and Jenny, Lisa Scragg who along with a carer called Lisa, helped Marina to
keep Mary comfortable. The two of them arrived just before Mary passed away, it
was as if Mary didn’t want Marina to be on her own at the end. There were many
special people in Mary’s life, Brian Parrish was also present at the ceremony but it
was impossible to mention everyone by name.
Mary hopefully got a degree of comfort knowing Marina has people to turn to and
she has Spotty for company, the stray cat that was content to be fed outside and
kept a sensible distance when their old cat Pasha was alive. There would have been
World War three if Spotty had been allowed across the threshold but after Pasha
died, Spotty took up residence in the house, was de-flea’d and loved by both Mary
and Marina.
Marina and her mum did everything together and enjoyed a laugh, Mary had a great
sense of humour then of course Covid stopped them getting out and about. She did
have various health issues, yet she was an incredibly strong lady, made of rubber
she always managed to bounce back like the time she fell down the stairs backwards
and broke just a fingernail but was totally devastated as she always kept her nails
long!

Mary had reached the age of eighty-one and her story began in Crewe on 9 th August
1939. Her dad Harry was a wagon driver and her Mum Elsie had a career as a
midwife. After Mary started work, she had various jobs over the years. Mary left
Ludford Street School, she started at Wilden’s bakery and used to work in each of
the shops. She moved to Woolworths and then onto Blundells in West Street who
used to sell things on tick and Mary collected the payments. She worked at James
Grey Garage where she manned the petrol pumps and she loved seeing the posh
cars used for weddings and special occasions.
Mary also worked for Social Services as a driver taking people to and from day care
and she also did a spell at Bunbury Marina, cleaning the boats and checking the
utensils for the next renters and as the boats set sail, Mary would go a short distance
up the canal then jump off and walk back. Incredibly hard working, Mary also had
casual work at the post office during busy periods such as Christmas.
Mary met the love of her life, Clifford Harry Parish who also worked at the Post Office
and was affectionately known by many as Pash the Printer. They were married by
the time Mary was twenty and living with Cliff’s parents in Briggs Avenue, they
welcomed their only child Marina into the world on 30 th June 1959.
They didn’t have a car for many years and often went on the train to Scarborough to
visit Cliff’s sister and her family, spending many happy hours together on the beach
just around the corner from the house.
In 1970 they moved back to Mary’s family home at Bradfield Avenue and sadly, Elsie
died of cancer when she was sixty-one and Harry died in 1975. Mary and Clifford
had varied interests, they loved watching wrestling and regularly went to Victoria Hall
at Hanley and the Odean Cinema in Crewe with Jean, her mum Mary and brother
Mick and I believe, Mary used to make cheese and onion rolls or their favourite ham
and boiled beetroot for them all to enjoy and I gather Jean and Mary were amongst
the women who used to run to the ringside to batter the wrestlers shouting and
screaming “you dirty wrestler” or less polite words!
Marina remembers the time she went to Wales with her mum and dad, they stopped
for a drink but when they got back in the car, Marina didn’t shut the tailgate properly
after putting her dad’s wheelchair on board.
As Mary turned a corner, the wheelchair shot down the road and as Marina ran after
it, she saw it speed past an ice cream van having caught up with it, as the ice cream
man looked in misbelief, she asked, have you seen the bloke that was in it”? Well as
Mary and Marina cried laughing, Cliff was well and truly miffed and sulked all day!
They also went on Boat / Barge holidays on the canal when Marina was in her teens.
They used to look out for places with shower rooms and on one occasion, her mum
had left the bar of soap on the floor so when it was Marina’s turn, she went flying
spreadeagled on the shower floor with her mum in fits of laughter!
They also had a passion for car boot sales and travelled all over to places like the
Vagrants, Beeston, Chelmsford.

During the winter months they went to indoor venues like Danebank, Northwich
Memorial and Middlewich Civic Hall so its no surprise that Mary loved watching the
Antiques Roadshow.
They originally did the car boot sale at Weston Cricket Club but then Mary and
Marina started serving the refreshments for the owner. Working together in the
kitchen, Marina did the cooking and Mary got the drinks.
If they weren’t car booting, Mary and Cliff loved to go for a trip to Wales either by
themselves or with friends, they were never in. Mary and Marina did house cleaning
together up until their unfortunate car accident two years ago on Friday 13th !
Mary and Cliff, looked forward to the Sundays they alternated between houses with
Sheila and Les, playing a game of Rummy and enjoying a bite to eat. They also
went to James Last concerts together.
Mary has left a huge void in Marina’s life, but something she may say or do will stir a
memory and once again, she can take comfort knowing her mum is not far away.

May she rest in peace