Myrna Allen

“Memory is a lovely lane, because it leads me to you”

Myrna passed away peacefully at home with her devoted husband by her side on the 25th January aged 85 years.

The devoted wife of Jim, loving mum of Raigan and the late Adrian, cherished grandma of Carson and much loved sister and special friend to many.

Myrna’s funeral will take place at Crewe Crematorium Chapel on Friday 16 February at 3.30pm

Family flowers only please

For further details please contact our funeral home on 01270 584447

Myrna was born in Lisburn NI in 1938, growing up in a rather austere environment.  She had one sister – Thelma.  Sadly, her mum died when Myrna was only 5 so her grandmother took her in, keeping a beady  eye on this tomboy who later blossomed into the beautiful lady we know Myrna was.  So when Jim started to show his feelings for her, especially when there was talk of engagement and a wedding, he was not grandma’s favourite person.

But Myrna knew that this marriage was to be made in heaven. She loved Jim as much as he loved her. So she slipped away to England to be with Jim and his brother in Birmingham when Grandma was not looking.

Jim was a very lucky man. For a start, he had two left feet so couldn’t dance – while Myrna was a beautiful dancer.  She was also a really beautiful lady who knew how to present herself and dress well, always with a smile and personal warmth. She dressed young.  Even  80 she looked like she had just won a beauty contest.  In beauty and creativity we see something spiritual and enduring.

So: married life. In summary, a honeymoon in Birmingham,  life in the sunshine for a while in Cypress where Jim was serving in the Army.  Ultimately since 1965 in Haywood Green.  Nearly 60 years in the same house. She took the initiative by the way in buying the house – by all accounts an astute financial deal.

Let’s talk about the children. A happy story of two sons, Adrian and Riagan,  but a very sad story in losing  Adrian at age 47. This is not how things are supposed to be! That blow must have inevitably left a shadow  over this sunshine lady, not forgetting of course the blow to Jim.  Adrian had wanted a brother, so it was a happy day indeed for mum and dad and Adrian when Myrna proudly announced that she was pregnant!

Grandson Carson, Riagan and Hayley’s son,  born just 5 years ago, brought Myrna great joy at a time before her stroke and decline had set in.

You might think that the link with past life in Lisburn might have lapsed. Not so at all. Myrna and Jim have kept solid links with family and friends back in NI, and even now Riagan with Hayley are regular visitors over there.

We also take comfort that Myrna was able to live out her final years, bar time in hospital, in her own home. And today we pay tribute to her faithful loving husband Jim who made that possible.  We all salute Jim, who has honoured every loving promise he made to Myrna in their marriage ceremony back in 1957.  It is amazing to think that he refused in recent  years the  help of outside carers, insisting that he alone would look after her.

So we salute Jim, 3 years Myrna’s senior – but now what a massive gap left in his life. Not just the extra time he must now have but much more significantly  the loss of the love of his life – going back to the time he first set his eyes on Myrna when she came to work in the office of William Barbour and Sons in Lisburn, where he was already working, in 1955.

We are also thinking of Riagan and his fiancée Hayley, not forgetting little Carson.  All his life Riagan has known the love of his mum, and now he mourns her loss.

Those close to the family will know that she cared for her father in his decline, and cared also for family members back in Lisburn.  Those who worked with her in Leighton hospital, where she was an Auxiliary Nurse, will remember her caring cheerfulness with the patients, and may recall that she was actually encouraged to train as a Nurse.  All will recall her good cheer and kindness.  Her loyalty, faithfulness and family love – both here and back in Lisburn – are a model for us all in building community and keeping family.

And Myrna had contentment in her heart – she had no wish to seek out greener pastures. Nearly 60 years in the same house tells you something!  That contentment with life is a wonderful quality.

Ultimately  her ashes will be interred with those of Jim when the time comes – a token of the love and bond which is theirs and a token of what we all hope will one day be a spiritual reunion for them in the heavenly places.  They will lie with Adrian, their son.

Now may Myrna take her rest in eternal peace.