ClarkeDREDAIt is with great sadness that the family of Dreda Clarke, nee Vernon, announce that Dreda died peacefully at home on 13th September after a difficult illness. Dreda was best known in Loughborough, where she lived for sixty years, for founding the Phoenix Players in the 1950's; an amateur dramatic company that performed regularly at Stanford Hall through the 50s and 60s. She had several part-time jobs over the years, including being an auxiliary nurse at the Loughborough General Hospital, a role she took great pride in. She also took great pleasure and pride in her work as a cleaner at Loughborough University in the student halls, where she combined her passion for cleanliness with her talent for mothering: many grateful students became life-long friends as a result of her care. She was also a much-loved Brown Owl with the Loughborough Brownies. Dreda was a devout Catholic and gave many years of faithful service to St. Mary's Church, where she was married, and her four children all attended St. Mary's School, and then De Lisle RC Comprehensive. Always a devoted wife and mother, the death of her husband Philip in 1992 was a huge loss, but with her typical courage and fortitude, Dreda forged a new life for herself following and developing her many interests, such as travelling, walking, dancing - and enjoying her seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Dreda had an enormous talent for making friends wherever she went, a talent she put to good use when she moved to Shropshire. She joined the local theatre-goers group, visited gardens, went on several holidays with the over-fifties club, joined new circle-dance groups and attended poetry festivals and reading groups, and created a beautiful new home and garden in the pretty town of Bridgnorth. Dreda led a happy, fulfilled and active life, in spite of ongoing heart problems, until illness caused her to be largely house-bound for the last year of her life. Dreda will be sorely missed by all her family, and her many friends around the world
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