Joan Bickerton

“You are no more than a thought away.”

Joan passed away peacefully at home on 31st March aged 82 years.  The beloved wife of Dennis and much loved mum to Christopher and Ian, also a cherished nana  and dearest sister.  She will be sadly missed by all her family and friends.

Husband Dennis has been Joan’s loving carer for the past few years, They had an eternal love affair which began 5 years before their wedding in 1964.

All losses are desperately sad, but it is good to record that Joan passed away peacefully at home – in the one house which had been her home all her life – as was her wish and Dennis’ wish.

Several of her accomplishments had a strong community and social dimension. For example, she started and continued for many years the Ruskin Rovers team – part of the Lads and Dads football league. Under her management the Ruskin Rovers later became the Crewe Youth Centre team where Joan was a youth worker.  She was active in the Scout movement – in particular the15th South West Cheshire Scout Group on Union Street.

Joan didn’t shout her interests or talents from the rooftop, as it were, but rather quietly and self-effacingly got on with things. But even if she was a gentle soul, she could certainly make things happen!

She leaves a legacy of care and compassion. Her community contribution will be remembered with gratitude.

Joan enjoyed watching football, with a particular interest in Liverpool.

Apart from the public and community aspects to her life, there was an amazing range of more private interests and pastimes.

These included:

Collecting Royal memorabilia. Collecting Chester Silver. Collecting antiques. She painted models, such as the model planes her son Christopher made. She had a vast thimble collection – over 500 thimbles! And she collected Opals.

She certainly had creativity and artistry in her life! Artistic creativity speaks to a dimension of life which, like love, is bigger than ourselves.

Somehow Joan also found time to read crime writers  and do crosswords and do Sudoku.

The thimble collection connects well with another major dimension to Joan’s life. Travel. So a thimble from each new place. Dennis and Joan travelled to very many places across the world, but the most stunning to record are the 16 trips to Australia and the associated travel around that country. All this world travel was in addition to travel in the UK: Skipness and Dumfries in Scotland were favourites, and not forgetting the 15 annual trips to the International Bowls at Potters in Norfolk with a coachload of friends including close friend Sheila and her husband.

That  love of travel reflects a lively interest in the world and an interest in people. Back in Crewe Joan’s long working life at Asda was also marked by a similar interest in people.

Travel connects quite neatly back to family, because the main reason for all those visits to Australia was to see her sister Freda. That surely says something about the way Joan valued family bonds.

Continuing with the family theme: there was the family she and Dennis created around them. Three sons: Christopher, Andrew and Ian.

Tragically, they lost Andrew aged just 1 month. That must have been traumatic, and would surely leave a mental scar for the rest of her life. Significantly, Joan’s ashes are to be interred with those of baby Andrew.

But a special mention of what is to be learned from Joan of courage and determination in the face of disease, pain and immobility, and  in facing death. Joan has been incredibly brave, never moaning or complaining. “Oh! I’m all right” she would say. Happily now she is at peace and all that struggle is in the past.

In God’s love, Joan is safe until you see her again. She has just gone on another journey – but this one is the most momentous of all!

May she now rest in peace.

Joan’s funeral will take place at Crewe Crematorium Chapel on Monday 17th April at 1.45pm

Donations in memory of Joan will be gratefully received for Diabetes UK

For further information please call 01270 584447