Elsie Shaw

“No need for words, except to say, loved and remembered every day.”

Elsie passed away peacefully in the care of Corbrook Park Nursing Home, Audlem on Wednesday 23rd February 2022 aged 93 years surrounded by her family knowing she was loved.

Loving Mum, Devoted Nana & Cherished Great Grandma

Her funeral will take place on Wednesday 16th March 2022 at Vale Royal Crematorium Chapel at 12noon.

Kind donations are going to “Versus Arthritis”

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

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Elsie is a much loved mum to Janet, Ian, Nigel and Hilary , wife to her beloved late
husband Roland, dear mother in law to Steve, Sally, Wendy and Francis, cousin to
Jean, devoted nanna to Kate, Lee, Darren, James, Daniel, Laura, Louise, Emily,
Lucy and their other halves and great nanna to Lillie, Logan, Lester, Rosie and
Isaac, she was incredibly proud of her children, grandchildren and great
grandchildren and always enjoyed visits from family and extended family and they
used to ask her to cook all-time favourites like, Nanna’s peas and sausages!
Elsie was hardworking, quiet, thoughtful and kind, she was fun loving, single minded
at times and often used to place her hand at the side of her cheek, roll her eyes and
tutt if she didn’t like someone or disapproved of something someone was doing.
After several strokes, she used her eyes to communicate and could always express
her likes and dislikes of things or staff by the expression on her face. Communication
became extremely difficult for her, and she would answer ‘yes’ whether it meant yes
or no! but, yet both daughters knew the difference.
Her hearing aids were constantly in or out of her ears and very often lost, but
surprisingly, she could miraculously hear when the girls gave totally gave up on
them. And she knew her own mind! She would regularly put paperwork under a
cushion and sit on it when she wanted to keep it from prying eyes.
She was always strong willed and never afraid of voicing her opinions, when Hilary
and Nigel were at school, they always felt pretty embarrassed when Elsie used to tell
many of their friends off! And she would always quip, “nothing fresh there then!”
when referring to Roland.
Elsie had been ill for many years with osteoporosis and osteoarthritis which affected
her mobility and eventually she had to use a frame and then a wheelchair in order to
mobilise. Following many hospital admissions for heart attacks and strokes she was
unable to stay in her own home and went to Corbrook Park Nursing Home on
23.12.16
She enjoyed many visits from all of her children, grandchildren and great
grandchildren. She used to enjoy being fed Jam butties and milky buttons by Isaac
Whilst in Corbrook Elsie used to like receiving flowers and would always try to assist
in the flower arranging even though she had lost the dexterity to arrange the flowers.
She has always had a daily newspaper and at Corbrook she continued to have one,
even though with one sweep of her arm, the newspaper, pillows and other things
regularly ended up on the floor if things weren’t going exactly how she would have
wanted them to!
But she had many happy days especially when she received letters from her cousin
Jean, getting all the news about the extended family and even though Elsie couldn’t
communicate, she enjoyed Janet calling Jean and listening to Jean chatting about
how she and everyone was.
She always had lovely handwriting and could write a wonderful letter herself in her
earlier years and the grandchildren always loved to see her writing.

In her later years following a stroke, Elsie adapted to use her left hand, the writing
wasn’t as neat, but she persevered and always tried her best.
Born in Rowarth just over ten years before the start of WW2, Elsie left Thornsett
School to become a Comptometer Operator and continued until got married and
moved away.
Elsie met the love of her life at a dance hall in New Mills, Derbyshire which was
being run by Roland’s father George and stepmother Mary.
Elsie and Roland exchanged their lasting vows at Hayfield Church, Derbyshire on
11.07.53 and blessed with sixty-three of marriage until Roland died in 2016.
After initially living in a flat at Barnt Green, they welcomed Janet into the world then
bought their first house in Alvechurch, Worcestershire where Ian and Nigel were
born and then moved to Park Estate in Shavington in the early 1960’s where Hilary
completed their family, and the house became their forever home until they had to go
into nursing care.
Whilst Roland worked on the railway Elsie had the tireless job of being a full-time
wife and mother as was usual back in the day and as was the case with many mums
when their children grew up, Elsie worked as a dinner lady at Shavington County
Secondary School starting in 1974 and continued with this role for many years.
She enjoyed bowling at the local crown green bowling club in the village and
although she didn’t drive till later on in life, it was something she would have gladly
done without.
When Roland retired in 1986, they both took a trip around the world experiencing
many fabulous places. One stop was Australia where they met up with Elsie’s
cousin Bill and his family who had emigrated there many years before but their
favourite place of all was Hawaii.
Elsie and Roland shared a passion for dancing all their married life. Having
achieved a qualification in 1991, Elsie was an associate teacher of Old-Time dancing
and along with Roland she loved to organise many dance holidays to places like
Devon and Eastbourne and despite the difficulties at times, they did it for many
years.
They regularly went to Silverdale, Nantwich and Crewe and would frequently hold
many dancing classes there. Maureen and Lena who Elsie and Roland used to
dance with at the Civic, knew who the boss was and remember Elsie shouting
Roland, Roland, come on! Maureen said they had some good times with the
dancing and holidays and recalled how Elsie always used to devise many different
types of quizzes and activities for all of the dancers whilst they were away.
Hilary and Janet both remember their mum would frequently enjoy supper evenings
with a Mrs Mulliner whilst their husbands were partaking in light refreshment! Hilary
remembers sitting snuggled up to Elsie stroking her very soft skin.

Family holidays were normally in Paignton, Devon where they would visit places like
Brixham, Torquay and Cockington and a long weekend in September was spent in
Blackpool at the North Mount hotel with extended family including Elsie’s Mother and
Father Jane and Arnold, Uncle Bill and Mary, cousins: Margaret, Jean and Enid
along with their spouses and their children.
When Elsie and Roland were on holiday together, they frequently visited places that
had Islands with puffins on. The puffin, kingfisher and robin were some of her
favourite birds and whilst Elsie was in Corbrook, she would spend many hours with
Janet and Hilary looking at pictures of birds in books, magazines and outside in the
garden. She also liked watching quiz shows and sport on TV.
Whilst living at home in Shavington, Elsie liked watching the birds, but she wasn’t a
pet lover yet whilst in the home, she enjoyed the days people would bring in different
animals such as snakes, owls, horses, gerbils to name but a few and on occasions,
she even held some of them!!
So many precious memories.
The Clock of Life is wound but once, and no man has the power to tell just where the
hand will stop at a late or early hour.
To lose one’s wealth is sad; indeed, to loose ones health is more; to lose one’s soul
is such a loss, as no man can restore.
The present only is our own; live, love, toil with a will – place no faith in ‘tomorrow’ –
for the clock may then be still.

May she rest in peace.