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Other
information
(Adapted from the eulogy given at Sheila's funeral)
Sheila attended Ufton Lane Infant School and Snips Hill Council School,
where she gained a scholarship to Fort Pit Grammar School in Chatham and eventually became Sports Captain and then Head Girl.
These were the war years and she remembered frequently having to clear the hockey pitch of shrapnel!
On leaving school she worked at Kent Electric Power Company in Sittingbourne,
where she met and married Harry Victor Trumper (Vic) at Borden Church in 1950.
They moved to 3 The Hedges in 1954 where they had 4 children.
Sheila never panicked. There was one occasion when one of the children returned home to a kitchen underwater as one of the
boys had managed to open the washing machine door! Mops were dished out, towels found and soon all was under control. No drama.
When the younger members of the family started drinking, friends regularly crashed out on the living room floor after a late night.
In the morning Sheila would open the door look in, ask who wanted breakfast and got on with preparing it without complaint and always a smile.
Times were hard but Sheila and Vic always managed to take the family on holiday every year.
Sheila would make cakes to take, along with the other food she had managed to buy over the year; Vic would moan while trying to cram it all
in the car saying “why are we taking all this food, don’t they have shops in [insert destination]?"
Sheila was very good at making money go a long way and she made lots of clothes for the children as well as knitting for them.
Large skeins of wool were bought and a child had to hold one while she made it into balls which were knitted into jumpers.
New clothes were always on the large side to get more use out of them. As an adult, one of her children is still waiting to grow into a gabardine mac
bought when they were 16!
Sheila was an eco warrior before they were invented, washing plastic bags, aluminium foil and recycling wrapping paper
to save money!
She was always baking cakes and bread and making jam and marmalade.
The ginger beer was a particular favourite, occasionally exploding in the larder, also the lemonade.
As the children became more independent Sheila worked at Penenden Heath Playgroup for a number of years. She became an active member of the
Townswomen’s Guild and then the Trefoil Guild and with Vic became a member of the Men of Kent. For over 30 years she ran the Pop-In Club at Penenden Heath,
organising activities and trips for the elderly folk. As the numbers dwindled she held the meetings at her house. She was still running it at 80
when most of the members were younger than her! She also volunteered in the Save the Children shop for over 12 years.
Mum regularly attended St Paul’s church, where she was a member of the Fellowship and with a small team of people regular cooked Friday lunches.
Throughout her life Mum suffered from a number of health issues but battled on.
Depending on your point of view, Sheila could be described as either stubborn or bloody minded, or in her words determined!
Her determined nature kept her independent at home until the last 4 months of her life.
She was a wonderful person a fantastic mother, grandma and great grandma and will be especially remembered for her wonderful
sausage rolls, mince pies and cheese scones... and, of course, her smile!
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