18.9 And Now … the End Is Near
When the Merlewood extension was built and Penn Mead opened for
‘business’ in 1967, Robert and Emily were already in their early eighties. By
this time, Emily was entirely crippled by her arthritis, both wheelchair and
house-bound. For Robert too the years had taken their toll and although
mentally alert, remarkably forward-looking and mobile—a few villagers today
can recall seeing him ‘about’ at the time—a hearing aid was by now the ‘order
of the day’ and Richard and John recall a pronounced shaking of his hand,
especially when pouring tea. But the couple were to live long enough yet to
derive pleasure from their gifts and to see peace break out in Penn after the
opening of Penn Mead, which has now served the community for almost
50 years. But, as for all of us who pass this way just the once, the inevitable
came, and for Emily, it was on 26 October 1975. Robert placed a notice in
The Times on the 28th;
LE ROSSIGNOL—On October 26
th 1975, peacefully at St Helier, Penn
Road, Beaconsfield, two weeks after the 65
th anniversary of our wedding day.
Emily, aged 90, beloved wife of Robert Le Rossignol. Cremation at Amersham,
on Friday 31
st October at 1.30. No flowers or letters please.
Emily’s passing was the result of decades crippled by arthritis, her immobility
eventually causing heart failure and thrombosis. In this work we have been
unable to present much detail of Emily’s life. Like Robert perhaps, she spent
her life ‘in the shadows’. No photographs remain, those who knew of her at
Penn remember her deformed by her condition and naturally reclusive. The
photographs we have suggest that Peter Walter resembled Robert when he
was young, but John Augustin appears dark and slim and maybe resembled
Emily more. However, anonymity is probably precisely what Emily would
have wished for. Robert described Emily as his ‘beloved wife’, a wife he cared
for throughout her long and painful illness, and his notice in The Times
conveys the emotion he felt at his loss. But he clearly wanted a quiet funeral,
with no ‘fuss’, and this too was probably Emily’s wish. After her cremation,
on 03 November, her ashes were scattered in a dispersal area within the
crematorium grounds.
36 The following month, the Penn Parish News Letter
contained a brief notice of her passing.
‘Life in the shadows’ may have been Emily’s wish, and during her lifetime
that wish was respected. But we can gain some measure of this lady through
her Will
37 which shows that she dispersed her estate widely amongst friends,
family—in the UK and Germany—employees, and charities. Indeed, a much
18 Penn, Buckinghamshire 1949–1976
485
When the Merlewood extension was built and Penn Mead opened for
‘business’ in 1967, Robert and Emily were already in their early eighties. By
this time, Emily was entirely crippled by her arthritis, both wheelchair and
house-bound. For Robert too the years had taken their toll and although
mentally alert, remarkably forward-looking and mobile—a few villagers today
can recall seeing him ‘about’ at the time—a hearing aid was by now the ‘order
of the day’ and Richard and John recall a pronounced shaking of his hand,
especially when pouring tea. But the couple were to live long enough yet to
derive pleasure from their gifts and to see peace break out in Penn after the
opening of Penn Mead, which has now served the community for almost
50 years. But, as for all of us who pass this way just the once, the inevitable
came, and for Emily, it was on 26 October 1975. Robert placed a notice in
The Times on the 28th;
LE ROSSIGNOL—On October 26
th 1975, peacefully at St Helier, Penn
Road, Beaconsfield, two weeks after the 65
th anniversary of our wedding day.
Emily, aged 90, beloved wife of Robert Le Rossignol. Cremation at Amersham,
on Friday 31
st October at 1.30. No flowers or letters please.
Emily’s passing was the result of decades crippled by arthritis, her immobility
eventually causing heart failure and thrombosis. In this work we have been
unable to present much detail of Emily’s life. Like Robert perhaps, she spent
her life ‘in the shadows’. No photographs remain, those who knew of her at
Penn remember her deformed by her condition and naturally reclusive. The
photographs we have suggest that Peter Walter resembled Robert when he
was young, but John Augustin appears dark and slim and maybe resembled
Emily more. However, anonymity is probably precisely what Emily would
have wished for. Robert described Emily as his ‘beloved wife’, a wife he cared
for throughout her long and painful illness, and his notice in The Times
conveys the emotion he felt at his loss. But he clearly wanted a quiet funeral,
with no ‘fuss’, and this too was probably Emily’s wish. After her cremation,
on 03 November, her ashes were scattered in a dispersal area within the
crematorium grounds.
36 The following month, the Penn Parish News Letter
contained a brief notice of her passing.
‘Life in the shadows’ may have been Emily’s wish, and during her lifetime
that wish was respected. But we can gain some measure of this lady through
her Will
37 which shows that she dispersed her estate widely amongst friends,
family—in the UK and Germany—employees, and charities. Indeed, a much
18 Penn, Buckinghamshire 1949–1976
485