DAD

On Thurs 13th July Dad passed away at LOROS. His celebration of life and final farewell was on Friday 4th August.

John Turner Armitage was born at at a Maternity home in Morley, Leeds on July 23rd 1936.
His Mum; Emma Armitage worked in a Woolen mill and his father Abraham Utley Armitage was a Stone Quarry labourer.
The second eldest of three surviving children, Bruce died when he was a toddler and John grew up with his two sisters Phylis and Joan.
Attended Bridge Street School in Morley.
He was an apprentice at Forgrove for two years before heading to Oxfordshire to work at the atomic energy institute at Harwell.
On 6th October 1960 John was called up for National Service in the Royal Engineers as an Electrician. He started his National Service at Aldershot and the was posted was to Munchen Gladbach in Germany... narrowly missing a performance by Elvis Prestley by just a few hours.
On John's National service card his complexion is described as Fresh, Blue eyed, brown haired. It said "Corporal Armitage is a conscientious, hardworking and ambitious man who should do well in civilian life, his military conduct was "Very Good".
His call up was to be the last National Service daft in the UK and much to Johns annoyance he had to do 6 months over the normal required period.
From there he returned to Harwell and caught they eye of his secretary Margaret and rest is history. They were married in 1965 and moved to a flat in Leicester. Later moving to Huncote which was to be the Armitage family home for the next 56 years.
In 1959 he achieved a Diploma in Electrical Engineering and by October 1974 he officially became a Chartered Engineer.
In 1969 his first son Chris arrived followed swiftly by Richard in 1971, the winter blackouts of the late 60's and early 70's clearly had it good points!
John was a family man through and though, and his greatest joy were his grandchildren Abe and Albert.
During their years in Huncote, John was a quiet private man but made lifelong friends in Anne and Tony Deacon, Diane and Colin May. He was a popular member of the Cosby Golf Club and would play 18 holes two or three times a week, in all weathers right up to January of this year.  To be a LOROS in Dads final few hours was a blessing, he arrived and was welcomed by your incredible staff, just two doors down from Mum. He relaxed and passed away peacefully the next day.

MUM

On 9th May 2018, our beautiful Mum, Margaret was taken from us. Mum was born in Wallingford on 18th March 1944.

She had been diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer in January 2018. She was the bravest, most graceful and dignified person you could ever meet, from the moment she was diagnosed she did everything she could to make it easier for everyone else to deal with. I rarely saw self pity and very few demands on those taking care of her, in fact she often apologized for being a nuisance. We were so lucky to have her as a mum, wife, sister & nana. Even as her time became shorter and her senses grew less, her ability to love remained at the forefront and she could still reach out and comfort her grieving family.

 In that short 4 months, there were moments of overwhelming sadness but also love in its truest form; my Dad taking care of her, my brother Chris holding her to ease her pain and her grandchildren coming for cuddles. We celebrated her 74 birthday on 18th March, we bought her a mobility scooter which she drove into my brothers kitchen wall but just like Mum always did, she started giggling. Even though she was never well enough to use the scooter it was worth it to see her laugh like that. We spent a quiet Easter Sunday together.

Mum was cared for by nurses and doctors at LOROS, who were skilled in palliative care. No one wants to go to a hospice, but LOROS was a place like no other, from the volunteers who work on the reception desk and snack bar, to the counseling, the day therapy centre, the chaplain, the occupational and physio therapists, the chef, and the complimentary therapists . My Mum was taken care of with skill and dignity. We were able to do things we could never have done at home, the May bank holiday weekend was the most amazing sunshine, and the nurses wheeled Mum's hospital bed into the garden, she lay in the shade and felt the breeze on her face. I don't know how to thank everyone at LOROS for the way in which they took care of my Mum, they also took care of her family. LOROS care was provided for us with no charge. 

I believe a quarter of their yearly budget is provided by the NHS the rest has to be raised through charity work which is in the region of £6m per year. I realize that this is a local charity which might not draw the attention of all,  but as a thank you from our family I would like to attempt to bring some fundraising to LOROS.

In loving memory of the most beautiful, kind, caring Mum we could ever have wished for. She always said:  "treat others as you'd like to be treated". She lived with modesty and humility. In later life she wasn't a regular church goer but she was a pillar of our small community and lived as Christian a life as one could, not in ritual but practice. She never had a bad word to say about anyone, she always saw the best in everyone and she always made the best of a bad situation. 

Mum was also a really good writer in 2010 she wrote "Every Picture tells a Story" for a W.I competition, here are a few lines:

"Oh well I must be on my way. I"ll be back again one day....I know you will still be here, you're my tree of life"