She was born, Bernice Jacqueline Flowers to Vera and Philip in Guilford Surrey on 19th February 1946
Bernice was a loving wife, friend and constant companion to David, and adoring Mother to Donna & Matthew.
She was Grandmother to Craig, Faye & Alex and to her eldest grandson Daniel who was born on her birthday.
She was Great Grandmother to 7 month old Blake and 3 week old Myer, neither of whom she ever got to meet, but saw photos of them.
She was a loving Sister to Bruce, Andrea, Graham & Lorna and auntie to each of their lovely children and Mother in Law to Dave who she considered a son.
Bernice was one of life’s truly good people, with not a bad bone in her body.
She was gentle, considerate, kind, compassionate and forgiving. She worked hard all her life and during the years of hardship when her children were younger, she would go without to make sure her children didn’t.
At Canon, her colleagues fondly referred to her as ‘Duchess’.
David’s endless decorating and DIY escapades became legendary, it became quite a joke in the family and still has people in fits of laughter relaying those stories. One that springs to mind is the Irish Dresser, which for those that don’t know is a door laid across the boxes of kitchen units which for 3 years had remained unopened.
Transport likewise was always guaranteed to raise a chuckle. Why buy 10 shillings worth of petrol (50 pence for those of you that cant remember pre decimalisation) when 2 and 6 would do. TR3A’s with frozen soft tops, and Austin Cambridge’s held together with duck tape were also guaranteed to raise a smile from Bernice. However the Austen Cambridge was not a source of amusement for Donna who would hide in the back of it for fear of being seen by her friends….the stories are endless.
Bernice had a great sense of humour and it’s just as well she did as Matthew was the joker and prankster of the family. The relating of him leaping off the bedroom storage heater claiming to be Superman, grasping the light fitting only to find that as the electrics went out throughout he was in fact a mere mortal reduced the family to tears on more than one occasion.
Family History was her great hobby for the past 10 years and what a talent she had for it!
She helped literally hundreds of people on Genes Reunited knocking down walls to get information on the many elusive ancestors where others had tried and failed, she was quite the detective. If a member on genes reunited got stuck in their research, they knew Bernice would not only go that extra mile to help, but that Bernice would solve the problem.
There are over 300 condolence messages on the Genes Reunited forum and all say how much Bernice has helped them and how much she will be missed….infact many have said genes reunited will never be the same without her.
As a mark of the esteem in which she was held, The Genes reunited management have held her condolence thread as the headline entry of all posts, a unique accolade.
She never asked for praise or adulation, but god forbid your never said thank you! All these tributes show what a remarkable lady she was and in what high esteem she was held by all those that came into contact with her.
Most people touch other people’s lives, but Bernice went far far beyond simply touching them, the last 3 years she has physically changed people’s lives. She reunited people with long lost living relatives, but above all, she took immense pleasure in reuniting birth mothers with their adopted children, even as far as tracing one birth mother to New Zealand and reuniting mother and son. A truly amazing feet, and some thing that her family are so very proud of.
Bernice firmly believed in life after death and because we love her so much, we must now let her go on her journey where she will rest in a beautiful, serene place, where she is free of pain, a place she so richly deserves.
God bless you Bernice
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There are so many kind pms asking about my Mum's funeral,please forgive me as there are to many for me to answer personally and i hope no one minds me posting this sad thread.
The Funeral Service for the late Bernice Jacqueline Marsden will be held at: St Richards Chapel The Surrey & Sussex Crematorium Balcombe Road Worth
On Tuesday 16th December @ 12.45pm
Floral Tributes to: Masters & Son (Lindfield) Ltd Masters House Lewes Road Lindfield Haywards Heath West Sussex RH16 2LE
Flowercraft are doing the family flowers 01444 484472 who are close to the funeral directors.
Mum will be brought home to the chapel of rest by tomorrow morning when Dad, Matthew and i can see her finally at peace.
I would like to thank everyone for so many kind messages for my family (the messages refuse to copy and paste)....help please. Because Mums eulogy (sp) involves GR, i am posting it here for you to read.
Once again, heartfelt thanks Donna
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