Phyllis lived a long and eventful life through, both hard and good times, and her life ended in as peaceful a way as possible, in these strange times.
Phyllis was the first born of Phillip and Matilda Hunt. She was born on 12th February 1924 in Lacock. She was baptised at St Cyriac church, in the village, in the April of that year .The family grew with the addition of sisters Ursula, Jean and finally brother Doug whilst the family were living in Belfast, where father Phillip had engineering work at the docks.
She attended school in Lacock and her school reports for 1936 and 1937 have survived.
She was a good scholar, achieving 1st and 2nd place in her class scoring good marks in most subjects including needlework which was to be a lifelong skill. Before the onset of the war the family moved to Trowbridge. Phyllis having left school worked at a cloth mill in the town doing “invisible” mending of the high value cloth produced; which involved very detailed work.
When the War started teenage Phyllis worked at the Spitfire components factory on Bradley Road, cycling to and from work. Her brother Doug remembers her going out to dances with American GI’s stationed near the town and an RAF boyfriend who made a wooden model of a Hurricane fighter for him. Phyllis met Ray, when the army sent him to Trowbridge for training, and corresponded with him when he was transferred to Scotland.
After Ray left the army and continued his work as a gentleman’s hairdresser they married in August 1948 and lived in Steeple Ashton. After a while they moved to Whiterow Park, the same road in Trowbridge where Phyllis’s parents lived, and in 1953 their son Martyn was born.
In June 1961 they moved to Warminster, where Phyllis became a Teaching Assistant at The Avenue School. She enjoyed her career working with children with special needs for many years until she retired. Phyllis was especially supportive of Martyn’s education and continued working to help financially support him through Grammar School and Nottingham University. She sometimes came up with innovative ideas to raise extra money, like mating the family dog and selling the puppies to pay for a school trip.
She was always active – sewing and knitting. She knitted jumpers for her grand children, Laura and Russell, and tried to encourage Laura by giving her her first knitting bag, needles and wool when she was seven. She was still knitting when her great grand children, Eva, Abi and Hattie came along, as well as making hats and vests for premature babies born locally.
She was a great cook and also had green fingers and could make anything grow. She loved flowers. Niece Vanessa fondly remembers visiting for Sunday Roast dinners and a chance to catch up with family gossip, when she was so far from her home, when she started her teaching career in Salisbury.
Phyllis was a keen member of the Townswomen’s Guild. After Ray and she retired both were active members of Warminster Bowls Club. Phyllis was also a very competitive whist player and would often berate partners who did not come up to her high standard of play! Laura remembers playing Rummikubs which became quite heated when Phyllis argued with Ray when he tried to make illegal moves!
Over the years there were many family gatherings to celebrate milestone birthdays, weddings and anniversaries. Phyllis had a great appetite and always had room for one scoop of ice cream for dessert.
Not long after he retired, Ray suffered a stroke which limited his movement and speech. They moved into a warden supported sheltered bungalow in Flers Court. Phyllis made many friends there and joined in the community activities, becoming the resident’s Treasurer for several years.
Her sister Jean remembers when she moved to South Wales to a small village called Penalt. She invited Phyllis and Ray to visit. As Ray could no longer drive they took the train and Jean arranged to meet them at the station. However they missed the stop and carried on to Newport. This was before the age of the mobile phones, so Phyllis took a taxi to Penalt. Unfortunately she didn’t know Jean’s new address. In the village she asked at the pub and the publican thought the vicar would be the best person to ask. Meanwhile Jean had arrived back home and thought she had better walk around the village, just in case Phyllis had arrived. She luckily met someone who had seen what had happened and directed her to the vicarage. There she found Phyllis and Ray drinking tea with the vicar, whilst he did his ironing! Phyllis would never refuse the offer of a cup of tea.
Ray’s health slowly deteriorated and Phyllis looked after him until he passed away in 2007. Then Phyllis lived independently for the next eight years. Jenny used to visit with Eva and Abi and Phyllis would always have milk and biscuits for the girls, but they had to be careful to time their visits so they could leave before ‘Deal or No Deal’.
Phyllis moved into Cepen Lodge care home in 2015. The care provided there was of the highest standard and Phyllis enjoyed many visits from Martyn and Viv, her grand and great grandchildren, as well as her sister and brother. Eva and Abi would visit most weeks after their swimming lessons to tell Great Grandma of their adventures and have a cuddle. When Laura and Hattie visited Phyllis loved to listen to Hattie reading. Towards the end Eva would help Grandma eat her dinner, “one for you and one for me”. Although suffering from dementia, she was always good natured, with a smile and happy word for all those she came in contact with.
Phyllis was the rock in the centre of her family, loved by all, a kind, thoughtful daughter, wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother.