Marilyn Gillan “Mal”

“No longer in our life to share, but in our heart’s you are always there.”

Marilyn sadly passed away on the 17th March in the care of ward 5 at Leighton hospital, aged 67.

Marilyn, the beloved wife of Lynn. Devoted mother of Marc, Melvyn, Emma and the late Alison. Also a cherished grandmother and a friend to many.

Mal will be sadly missed but lovingly remembered by all her family and friends.

A service to celebrate Mal’s life will be held in the Cemetery Chapel, Crewe on Wednesday 31st March, followed by interment in Meadow Brook Cemetery.

Donations will be gratefully received on behalf of MacMillan at Leighton hospital.

For any further information please contact our funeral home on 01270 584447.

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As well as being a beloved wife of Lynn, Marilyn was a devoted mum of Alison,
Marc, Melvyn and Emma, a dear mother-in-law to John, Aee and Thomas and
Marilyn doted on her grandchildren: Luke, Sophia, Cherry, Gem, Ruby, Aran and
Isla, more than her children according to Marc and Melvyn, they really fell down the
pecking order when her little cherubs came along because as the Nanna’s amongst
us know, grandchildren become the most important treasures we could ever have.
She simply adored them all and even though she reiterated each year that they
weren’t going to get so many presents for Christmas, she still got lots of random
presents thorough the year and stored them ready to send to Father Christmas!
Marilyn was a cherished sister to Gillian, David, Jenny, Jane, Dianne, Katherine and
Jeanette, a sister-in-law, auntie and good friend to many.
Her sister Gillian paid tribute to Marilyn: a Mancunian baby was welcomed into
the world on 10th November 1953 by her parents Harry and Joan. She was the
oldest of 8 children, although she wouldn’t like me pointing that out, 7 sisters and 1
brother, of which I am the second eldest. Our Dad worked on the railways and mum
worked part-time to help out whenever she could. As older sisters we helped to look
after the younger ones as they came along.
Growing up we would play out in the street, as did all children of our generation,
whether it be skipping, roller skating or ball games. One of the neighbours built a
table tennis table for their son, which we could all play on. Queen’s Park was also
somewhere we would go to play. One game we played inside was shop, using tins
and pots out of the cupboards, Mal had to be the shopkeeper, but one day I insisted I
would be the shopkeeper, Mal said no, an argument started and Mal hit me on the
head with a rolling pin which resulted in me having to have stitches but Mal told me
to tell mum I had done it under the sink, so for many years they thought that was
what had happened. As you can imagine with so many of us we would sometimes
end up having arguments and fights. We also enjoyed going to the cinema on a
Saturday morning and would go home singing songs from the film we had watched.
We would visit our grandparents and would look forward to staying over, one reason
being the chamber pot under the bed, in case we needed the toilet, as it was outside
at the bottom of the yard, which for a while we thought was great, Mal said the eldest
had to use it first.
Nanna would also take us to Manchester, where she came from, to stay with her
sister and family, which we felt was a real treat as it was so different from Crewe.
Holidays, when our parents could afford it were usually Rhyl in a caravan but one
year we went to Ilfracombe and stayed in a hotel and thought we were the bees
knees. Another time when Mal was about 12 or 13 she went away with a friend and
her family to Bournemouth, she wrote home that she was having a good time but
could mum send her some more money as she was running out, needless to say
that didn’t happen.
Mal did a paper round but soon gave it up as she didn’t like the early mornings, and
that never changed. She would also babysit for neighbours. We attended Sunday
School at the Salvation Army, Mal joined the band and learnt to play the trumpet, she
was also Sunday School Queen for a year.

Mal left school and went to work and soon met the love of her life, then along came
her four children and eventually her grandchildren, family was everything to Mal, they
were her pride and joy.
As adults we would always try and get together, especially if our two sisters from
London came back to visit. One or two that were memorable for different reasons,
one my daughter’s wedding in the New Forest, we were staying in a hotel and after
the wedding and everybody had gone to their rooms after the event Mal decided to
knock on all the doors to make sure we were all in bed which didn’t go down well
with a couple of the other guests. I went New York with her on a girl’s holiday and
Mal and I went to Macy’s and ended up queuing for 2-3 hours to see Santa, the only
two with no children, but they let us in and we sat either side of him, we were so
chuffed with ourselves. We would have days out and sometimes holidays, one being
to Turkey to celebrate Alison’s 40th, Mal’s sense of humour would always keep us
amused.
Mal was happy, fun, loved life and strong but sometimes events take over and she
struggled with health issues.
Mal had many nieces and nephews who loved her and she loved them.
As her sisters and brother, we would have done anything we could to help her to
take away the pain and heartbreak. We love you and will miss you with all our
hearts, but you are at peace now Mal and hopefully you have Alison in your arms
again.
Gillian mentioned Marilyn meeting the love of her life, Lynn met Marilyn when she
was around seventeen years of age. She was catering at the railway buffet, whilst
he was working on the station. He went in for a Kit Kat and came out with a wife!
They initially lived in Kidsgrove and after Alison and Marc were discovered under a
gooseberry bush, Marilyn and Lynn got married in 1974 at Newcastle Under Lyne.
After moving to Crewe, Melvyn and Emma completed the family.
When they were youngsters Marilyn was a full-time mum then when she felt the time
was right, she became a midday assistant at Leighton Primary School and a Taxi
Escort for vulnerable adults and children. They enjoyed lots of fun filled holidays at
the stunning seaside town of Dawlish in Devon within reach of golden beaches,
travelling down on the train with the benefit of free passes.
The lads regularly watched the Alex and Melvyn always managed to persuade his
mum to take him to the away games if dad was working. It didn’t take much to wrap
her round their little fingers, they usually got what they wanted even if she did try to
say no at first.
Lynn is a diehard fan of Sunderland from his childhood days, in later years, Marilyn
also loved going up to Sunderland with Lynn, Marc, Luke and were sometimes joined
by Emma and her family.
Marilyn wasn’t really there for the football, although she did go to the match a couple
of times; all the other occasions, she enjoyed the five-star luxury facilities around the
hotel and relaxed around the pool.
Marilyn and Emma enjoyed going to the theatre, watching many musicals and also
Disney on Ice and as the children got older, Marilyn and Lynn often went to concerts.

Her idols were Bryan Adams who she saw at least six times in Manchester, Liverpool

and Scarborough, Boyzone and Westlife in Liverpool and Manchester, Take That
who they saw four times in Sunderland, Manchester and Liverpool, and Ronan
Keating several times.
If the boy bands had to go in pecking order, Boyzone won hands down!
They always liked their holidays and Marilyn looked forward to her weekends away
at Haven holiday camps with Emma and the girls. Alison persuaded them to get a
passport, then talked them into a short haul flight initially to Majorca, Emma went
with them the first time they went abroad. Marilyn and Lynn loved it so much they
began to travel further afield, to destinations like Jamaica, twice to New York and
she especially enjoyed a trip there to celebrate Yvonne’s fiftieth. They also went to
Florida twice, three times to Thailand and they went to Corfu with forty others for
Alison’s wedding plus all the holidays Gillian mentioned and more recently Marilyn
and Lynn have had at least five holidays at a lovely resort in Turkey and enjoyed
most of them with Emma.
Marilyn had a wonderful personality, she was incredibly laid back, fun loving and
friendly with the most wonderful laugh, so many people have said they will never
forget her laugh. She had many lovely friends from all over the country. After
meeting Yvonne, Marilyn was involved in organising a dance festival which initially
covered two weekends but became so popular, it expanded over three weekends.
Marilyn was known as the ‘Music Lady’, she went behind the scenes to organise the
music for all the competitors, a vital role as all the participants were marked by
professional assessors and the winner would go through to the finals of the ‘Miss
Dance competition’ in Blackpool.
Like snowflakes, no two mothers are the same but what they normally have in
common is the overwhelming love for their children and the passion and pride they
have for their grandchildren. Cherry and Sophia paid tribute with a lovely poem