Her Mother was pregnant with her Brother when her parents broke up and her
Mother took the brave decision to return to South Wales where she was accepted
back into the family that she had left to follow her man to live in a new world.
It must have been a difficult time for her, but she found her feet among the
large number of aunts, uncles, siblings, nieces and nephews that lived within
the mining community in the Valleys.In time, her Mother met a new fella and life remained relatively normal as Rachel went through her school years. She had a talent for art and enjoyed performing. At sixteen she left home to join the Welsh National Theatre and toured with them until the outbreak of the Second World War. Training as a radio operator, she was deployed in airfields around the south of England in both Fighter and Bomber Command. She met and fell for a Major and they were married.
After the war, Rachel had a daughter, Marilyn, and Rachel and her husband
settled close to his family, building a house in Sanderstead in south London.
After some time, as work dictated, they moved to Penarth in South Wales where
they built another house, one of which Rachel was very proud. Rachel was active
on the stage, participating in the local amateur dramatics societies. When
Marilyn was just twelve years old, the marriage failed and Rachel and Marilyn
found themselves alone and having to move out of the house Rachel was so proud
of.Rebuilding her life as a single parent, Rachel met a new fella when she played leading lady to his leading man for a show. They were married and had a son, Jonathan. Her new husband, Dennis, took a teaching position in Dorset where they bought a home and settled down.
Marilyn completed her school days at Parkstone Girls Grammar School and left home to train as a journalist at a college in London. Jonathan grew up, attending Poole Boys Grammar school before moving on to start work in London. Rachel had taken a few jobs during this period and each time they were very different and each time she threw herself into the roles, performing them to the best of her ability, proud of the effort she put in and the results she achieved. She remained busy with the stage, producing and performing in light opera and plays and even founded a pantomime society. She painted with oils, presenting a small exhibition of her work with a friend. She became a dab hand at home brew wine making and she and her Mother spent time together knitting and crocheting until her Mum passed away at the grand age of 94.
On a holiday trip to Spain, the family had visited Rachel's ex-sister-in-law.
She may have had a broken relationship with her ex-husband, but she was still
friends with his sister and so when, some time later, the property next door
came up for sale, she and Dennis snapped it up. Dennis took early retirement,
they sold their home in the UK and moved to Spain.After nearly 14 years of happy retirement, they came back for their Ruby wedding and Dennis was diagnosed with cancer, he died in 2003. Rachel spent some time back in Spain trying to get used to it without Dennis, but it was felt that the best thing was to move into a property near her son Jonathan. Rachel spent the next ten years living independently, under his watchful eye.
She felt the loss of her brother very keenly and after a lifetime never admitting to more than 37 years of age, the last year of Rachel's life began to feel as though she was getting older and she found things more difficult. She accepted Jonathan's invitation to move into his house where he could pay her even closer attention. A chest infection finally forced her into hospital where the eternally young spirit, with steely determination, died in the morning of 25th February 2014 'before she got old'.
