AT the grand age of 106, Lily Speakman, from Churchdown, has died.
The centenarian, who died on May 16, has been credited as ‘the woman who never got miserable’ by her nephew Tony Mallett.
Lily, who in her early days worked as an English teacher, married three times but never had children. “She hated babies, jeans and poor quality scamp,” said Tony.
Her last marriage, to Stanley Speakman, took her to South Africa, where she was able to enjoy fine scampi until she moved back to the UK in 1978.
Tony said:
She went around the world a few times, settling in South Africa, but in the end she came back and bought a property. She was a wonderful lady. She was an avid bridge player. She hated jeans. It was a real pet hate of hers. Her other gripe was poor quality scampi because she was fond of the scampi she had eaten in South Africa.She moved to Churchdown until her death.Her last three years were spent living at Parton House care home and was registered blind. Despite being blind she was always the woman that never got miserable. She kept hold of her sense of humour,” said Tony.
Lily, who celebrated her 106th birthday on December 15, was originally from Aston, in Birmingham, but her second marriage also took her to Torquay for several years.
Tony said: “She never had children. She hated babies.”
He stumbled across 32 packs of cards when clearing her property. “I’m sure she had shares in a casino,” he joked.
Her funeral will be held on June 3 at 10.30am at Gloucester Crematorium.