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 Christine was a long-term resident of Henley, having moved to the town in 1963 with her husband, Maurice, and her children, Linda and David. By the late sixties she was a secretary at Gillotts School (where both her children were then pupils) and Maurice had just started a business as a quantity surveyor. But in 1969 tragedy struck and a major car accident, in which the whole family was injured, drastically changed the direction of Chris's life. Her husband died of injuries sustained in the accident and she was left to raise her teenage children alone.
She also saw the abrupt end of a busy social and professional life. Maurice had been Chairman of the Henely Round Table at the time of his death, so Chris threw herself into her own hobbies and was an active member of HAODS, where she headed the wardrobe department for a production of West Side Story. She was forever grateful for the friendliness and spirit shown by so many Henley friends who continued to include her in the activities at the theatre, in Ladies' Circle and Tangent for the rest of her life. She had tremendous courage and had to come to terms with the loss of sight in one eye, and the subsequent inability to drive, so she moved from the house she and her husband had built to be closer to town.
In retirement she remained an enthusiastic member of HAODS and Tangent, where she enjoyed meeting friends old and new. She watched her daughter, Linda, forge a successful career at the BBC, and her son, David, establish and grow his business locally. She was equally proud of them both.
Chris was in good health when she celebrated her 81st birthday in mid-November. A short illness at home caused her to be admitted to the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading where she died on Christmas Day of pancreatic cancer.
Her family are relieved that what could have been a prolonged illness was mercifully short, and send their thanks to all in Burghfield Ward at the hospital.
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