Geraldine Margaret Dawes – “Gerry” – 1946 – 2024
Tribute by Stephen Dawes
Gerry was born in October 1946 in Solihull, Warwickshire to Gerald and Evelyn Ellis. Sadly, owing to a wrong diagnosis at her birth, a little later she had to undergo an operation and then spend a lengthy period in hospital which was traumatic for both her and her parents. It was an experience which haunted her at times throughout the rest of her life. Despite this early setback she had a very happy childhood and did all the things which I’m told little girls do. She rode her “Pink Witch” bicycle, was a keen Girl Guider, read books avidly and developed her remarkable aptitude for music and verse reading – she could recite the “Pied Piper of Hamelin” if called upon!
She grew up in a solid Methodist family, so most Sundays would see her and her parents in Solihull Methodist Church where she played an active part in helping with Sunday School and where later, in 1970, we were married. The family moved briefly to Petts Wood in Kent when Gerald worked in the London office and so Gerry attended Farringtons School in Chislehurst. After obtaining her O-levels she left school to learn and attain excellent skills at both shorthand (80 words per minute) and typing, leading to a number of secretarial jobs in London. Whilst there she shared an all-girls flat in Bryanston Street in the West End in the midst of the “Swinging Sixties”. She saw the Beatles live at Hammersmith but sadly, or maybe fortunately, they declined the girls’ invitation to their party afterwards!
After the family had returned to Solihull Gerry found work at ATV in Birmingham, assisting the scriptwriting team behind the afternoon soap opera Crossroads. Later she moved to a large firm of surveyors where she was private secretary to a senior partner. It was there that we met for the first time, despite both of us having grown up within five miles of each other. I was briefly a trainee at the firm, but it led to the start of a lifelong relationship.
It would be remiss of me if I did not mention Gerry’s lifelong love of books. From early beginnings with Enid Blyton, moving on to a large collection of the Chalet School stories, not forgetting a significant collection of the novels by Angela Brazil. She was an avid reader all her life, devouring books at remarkable pace until illness robbed her of that pleasure. It led to me reading her nightly chapters of books by authors such as Alan Bennett and Alexander McCall Smith.
Gerry’s mum Evelyn was an accomplished seamstress, apart from her career as a Headmistress, and made all sorts of items of clothing, curtains, etc. and taught Gerry the same skills which she made good use of in our early married life. Latterly she become keen on tapestry kits and made many cushions.
Music played a very important part of her life which was hardly surprising given her Methodist upbringing. She had a fine voice and sang with the Birmingham School of Music Choir including a memorable trip to York Minster to perform Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius; only recently did we discover that the principal female soloist on that occasion was Dame Janet Baker, so Gerry certainly sang with the best. Gerry loved choral music, especially Handel, and whilst in our early years living together in Worcestershire she sang with the Bromsgrove Choral Society, then when we moved to East Sheen she joined the Barnes Choir. She had an eclectic choice of music of all sorts, including Joe Brown whose 50th Anniversary concert tour we attended in 2008 when he sang the song I’ll see you in my dreams – she loved it.
Underpinning all Gerry’s life was her faith and for around 30 years we were both regular members of St Mary’s. She served as a churchwarden until illness forced her to step down prematurely. The regular livestream of the Sunday morning service was a lifeline for both of us.
I know that I, Olivia, Robert and Kirsten and her 4 grandchildren will be bereft without her, but she met her end of this earthly life peacefully and with little if any pain; she was ready to go to a better place. I cannot end without thanking the many friends who have been supporting us over the last few challenging years, especially our very kind neighbours who often came to our rescue, not forgetting the lovely young ladies from Caremark who cared for her sensitively during her final weeks at home.
Rest in peace, darling Gerry – “I’ll see you in my dreams”.