I am told that when she was on the organising committee of the table tennis club here in Felmersham with Doris Pipe. Greta was the ‘recruiting sergeant’ and she managed to persuade people to get involved using a combination of her Irish charm and her feminine guile.
 
Ron of course, is remembered for his village history: ‘Grain and Chaff’ and from a distinguished career in the Royal Air Force during which he was awarded an MBE.
 
Both Greta and Ron were family people and the loss of Greta is sadly felt by her daughters Diane and Lyn and her granddaughters Jenny and Donna. Also by their children Chloe and Morgan and Greta’s sister Vera.
 
When she was younger she was a very sporty woman enjoying ice skating, roller skating, hockey and netball. And during Wimbledon fortnight she always loved to watch the tennis on television.
 
Greta was an inspirational woman and will be remembered for her humour and warmth. A woman who serves as a good example to young women today. A woman with an opinion, a free spirit, great charm and enormous strength.
Chris Ure

Joan and I knew Greta and her late husband Ron for a relatively short period of time but what we had in common was that we both lived at Spring Cottage in Felmersham: Ron and Greta in the 1970’s and 80’s and Joan and I for the past twelve years.

In society today there are sadly too few characters. By that, I mean people who you meet and they make an instant impression on you. Both Greta and Ron were two such characters.

Ron always had that mischievous look in his eyes ready with a tale to tell or a prank to play. Greta with her stunning blue eyes was a charmer with an Irish lilt and a wonderful sense of humour.

Gill in the uniform of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), c1942.

Gill was born on the 2 April 1920 at Felmersham in the original Gladstones cottage, where the Everest family lived for almost 100 years. She was the youngest daughter of Charles and Annie Everest and had 2 sisters, Dorothy and Edie, and a brother Jack.

When the War came in 1939, Gill signed up for the ATS and served on Communications. That experience broadened her horizons, and after the War she worked as a wages clerk in Bedford before eventually working at Unilever in Sharnbrook where she subsequently led the team in the Salaries and Wages section.

During her younger years she was a leader of the local Girl Guides and very much enjoyed taking the girls camping. Gill married Tony Burr in September 1961 when she was 41, sadly after only 13 years of marriage, Tony died in 1974.
 
Gill was a very creative person, with many interests. She was keen on flower arranging, china painting, watercolour painting, knitting and sewing. Gill also loved nature, particularly birds and horses and her two West Highland Terriers. She loved her garden and was fond of music and loved to dance at any opportunity. She hosted garden suppers in the 1970s cooking up curries and rice in the days when curry was little known. She was also very sociable and enjoyed the odd drink with her friends in The Sun!
 
She was a colourful character with many sides, she was warm and extremely generous, bossy and cantankerous, full of fun and very kind. Gill spent her last years at Oasis House where she passed away on 21 June 2011 aged 91.

Jessie was born in Sharnbrook on 27 November 1919, one of eight children of Lewis and Beatrice Martin. She attended Sharnbrook School, now John Gibbard Lower School until she was 14. Jessie was left-handed but forced at school to use her right hand, being punished with wrapped knuckles from a ruler if she was caught using her left hand to write and sew. As a result she was ambidextrous, which served her well in later life when she started to lose the use of her left hand. Despite the punishments she always remembered her childhood as happy days spent playing with her brothers and sisters in the countryside.

When she left school she worked in a variety of jobs and when war broke out in 1939, as an unmarried woman, she was required to either work in employment related to the war effort or join one of the Armed Services.

She initially worked in a munitions factory, but after a time decided to transfer to the N.A.A.F.I. In 1943 she joined the Womens’ Royal Air Force and was stationed at fighter and bomber bases all over East Anglia. She was de-mobbed in July 1946 at the rank of Leading Aircraftwoman from a now famous place, Bletchley Park. Her recollections were that it was a huge camp and she had no idea of the important work that took place there.

Jessie married Fred Turner in 1952, initially living with Fred’s parents in a cottage on the Green at Radwell until after their first child, Pauline was born. By the time their son Andrew was born 3 years later they had built a bungalow on land owned by Fred’s father in Radwell.    

Jessie was a full-time Mum until Andrew went to secondary school in 1967. She then went to work on a part-time basis at the Odell Leather Company, until she retired in 1979. She was an active member of the Felmersham School PTA, raising funds to build a swimming pool at the old school by the church.

She was a member of Felmersham WI for many years and a member of their prize winning darts team. She always enjoyed village life and activities, helping other villagers whenever she could, generous with her time and supporting newcomers to the village.

Fred and Jessie celebrated their Golden Wedding in 2002 with a party for family and friends but sadly Fred died in 2004. At the age of 86, Jessie took her last holiday abroad to visit friends in Norway but continued to take cottage holidays in England with Pauline and Andrew until she was 89. She still enjoyed days out to stately homes and to the seaside, even though she relied on her wheelchair to get about.

Despite her deteriorating health in the last 18 months, she was always cheerful and enjoyed visits from family and friends.