Kathleen Walker Nee Connerley

“A light from our household gone. A voice we loved is still.”

Kath passed away peacefully on Sunday 13th February aged 85 years at home knowing she was loved and cared for by her devoted family.

The beloved Wife of Geoff. Loving Mum of Julie, Mandy & Gary. Devoted Nan of Matthew, Tom, Emma, Samuel, Sophie & Bethany.  Cherished Great
Grandma of Eddie, Evie & Rudy.

Kath’s funeral took place on Friday 25th February 2022 at Crewe Crematorium Chapel at 10am.

Kind donations are going to The National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society.

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

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Kath is and always will be Geoff’s darling wife and a devoted mum to Julie, Mandy
and Gary. She was a dear mother in law to Teresa and the late Peter, a sister in law
to Elsie and Auntie to Lesley and Tracey but above all else she was a doting
‘Cheshire’ Nan or Nanny to Matthew, Thomas, Emma, Samuel, Sophie and Beth and
a great Nan to Evie, Eddie and to Rudy who was her ‘Tuesday’ boy; she loved his
company even if he did always torment by hiding her glasses and pressing all the
buttons to alter the position of the mattress on the bed!
Kath totally adored her family and only ever wanted the best for them all. I am told
she had always been fiercely protective of her kids, and she didn’t suffer fools gladly
– wo betide anyone who was foolish enough to upset her!
Kath had a real strength of character, in later life she experienced health problems
and her mobility deteriorated to such an extent, she was confined to her bed, yet
despite being in excruciating pain much of the time, she never lost her amazing
sense of humour. She appreciated a laugh and a joke, she loved listening to music
and enjoyed company.
Kath was much loved by all who were fortunate to know her. Her family were the
centre of her world, but she made many good friends over the years including Cath
and David, June and Brian, Elsie and Terry who they went on fishing hlidays with
and also she was fond of Barbara and Mandy’s friend Wendy who Kath insisted was
her friend and who latterly spent a lot of time with her, chatting, keeping her
company watching TV and generally keeping Kath cheerful.
Remembering Kath
Kath was born in Stockport and spent her childhood in Reddish as an only child.
She was a bright articulate girl and attended grammar school but like many other
youngsters, it didn’t matter how bright they were, the war years created many
difficulties and budding scholars had to leave school at fifteen to start work because
there simply wasn’t the money available to support further education.
Kath found employment locally and according to the marriage certificate, her
occupation was ‘a machine knitter in a trimming factory’. Earning a wage, she and
her friends had a fairly good social life in and around the Stockport area. Geoff
recalled how he met Kath in a local pub and having just come home from the army
after being stationed in South Africa, he was tanned, handsome and blond so very
much the centre of attention – obviously caught Kath’s eye!
They exchanged their lasting vows on 9th June 1956 at St Mary’s Catholic Church in
Stockport and started married life in Levenshulme where they had their first child
Julie.
Kath remained in Levenshulme as a full-time mum and when Geoff got the
opportunity to work on the railway in Crewe, he lodged locally.

After temporarily living in a flat in Heaton Moor, Geoff and Kath moved to their
forever home, a new build in Linden Drive, where they went on to have Mandy
followed by Gary seven years later.
Geoff told me they weren’t well off, but they always had good holidays and a happy
life especially getting to know all the new neighbours, many of whom were railway
workers and being on a new estate the parents became good friends and all the kids
played together.
Geoff also fondly remembers how the couples all used to socialise and they would
go to New Year’s Eve parties at the Fire Station and end up having parties at each
other’s houses particularly. Mandy also remembered how they enjoyed caravan
holidays in Wales with big groups of friends.
Working on the railway, the concessions meant they could go all over by train, and it
seems Geoff, Kath and the kids were one of the few families to venture to Spain for a
week but three days of that was spent travelling.
They often went to Benidorm and Kath also enjoyed some brilliant holidays with
Barbara and June, ‘The Golden Girls’ as the three of them were known and to be
fair, Kath and Geoff did have a trip to Rome, but she dearly would have liked to
experience culture in countries further afield, whereas Geoff had done lots of
travelling in his army days and was content with Benidorm. So, when Julie became
a nursery nurse in Canada, Kath jumped at the opportunity of bravely going on her
own.
When the kids got older, Kath became a home help. She liked going to keep fit and
she went to night school, in fact Mandy remembers when Geoff let her watch
Dracula and Kath went mad when she found out!
Kath also liked a game of bingo and a group of them used to take turns in hosting a
charity bingo night to raise funds for Linden Court and when it was Kath’s turn, Geoff
and the kids had to go out! Gary allowed to stay, became an expert bingo caller.
They also held fundraising events such as Easter teas and coffee mornings.
She was a good cook, and whilst Geoff normally worked on a Sunday, Kath would
clean everything in sight, cook and bake and when she wasn’t busy with housework,
she loved crosswords and Jigsaws. But it was her grandchildren and great
grandchildren she got the most enjoyment from.
Her grandson Mat shared some memories:
She taught me everything I know about Bingo calling.
She was really good at baking – and I have great memories of baking butterfly cakes
with her and, on one occasion, settling down to watch Watership Down with her
which scared me and still scares me today!
She would always procrastinate over a pub lunch menu for what seemed like eternity
before, inevitably, ordering the same thing: Plaice and chips.
She never let me forget the time as a six-year-old when I cut out the photo from her
passport for some arts and crafts. It wouldn’t have been so much of a problem, but I

think her, and Grandad were due to go abroad the next day…. I think they made
their holiday in the end.
She had a penchant for line dancing which I still find funny to this day as I can’t
imagine it. She absolutely loved mentioning the fact that she was educated at a
grammar school! And she cooked the best rice pudding in Cheshire.

May she rest in peace.