Joan had remained fiercely independent, still walking from Grove Road along to the hairdressers at the far end of Wallasey Village when she was in her late 80s. She remained involved in organisations, and was President of Wallasey Inner Wheel for the fourth and last time in 2011.
Holidays were now confined to short breaks with her son and daughter. The last of these, with both son and daughter, was in February 2013. This took place from the Moreton Park Hotel, Chirk, that she had stayed in twice with her daughter in earlier years. This holiday included a visit to the Hand Hotel, Chirk, that she had last visited in early wartime!
Her health had not been good, and in March 2014 a problem was referred to A&E. She was taken into hospital overnight, and this progressed to a longer period. She was discharged to a nursing home in Upton, Wirral, on a temporary basis, but this soon became permanent. For the first and only time, she lived outside Wallasey, but only 100m from the border with the town. She was able to attend her grand-daughters wedding in Holy Apostles & Martyrs Church in June 2014; later, this couple brought forward her first great-grandchild, a boy. She was not well enough to attend her grandson’s wedding in London, later in 2014.
She continued to attend Inner Wheel meetings for a time, but this fell away, although some Inner Wheel members visited her socially at the “home” until their last visit on 10 March 2018. She kept up one aspect of her involvement in organisations, getting involved with the various entertainments put on at the Home. Almost to the end, she insisted upon delivering a formal vote of thanks at each event. The curtain was about to fall: a routine visit on Mothers Day, 11 March, found Mum still responsive, but with signs of a stroke; an ambulance was called, she was taken into Arrowe Park Hospital, and never regained consciousness.
These were the “shadow years”; very unhappy times to witness, and, although she tried to hide it, unhappy times for her. I doubt that the unnecessary suffering that she underwent will ever be forgotten, or its perpetrators forgiven. There were some reasonable times, nevertheless, and memories here will try to focus on these and to leave the unpleasant context on one side.
Joan Boughey Recalled 