18 Jul 2020John Alderson In memoriam: Angie Alderson (nee Scattergood)
Angie was born and brought up in Reigate, Surrey. She always said how much she treasured her formative years in that corner of England and her love for it never waivered. It became, to my mind, inevitable that she would eventually return to her roots in the south-east after her sojourn in the north.
Angie and I spent a fabulous decade together in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. We shared passions for sport, travel and active holidays, as well as for one another. And it was a time in which Angie formed some of those deep and lasting relationships that Ben has spoken of; for example, with Cookie, Pete & Julie, Clive & Lindy and Louise.
We made homes together, firstly in Woodlands Close and then in Mill Barn, Ben’s home for the first years of his life. And of course, it is he, Ben, that constitutes the most important and lasting outcome of our relationship. He was a beautiful baby and has matured into a wonderful adult human being, of whom we parents both became intensely proud.
I remember with great respect the love, care, guidance and support that Angie personally and consistently provided for Ben throughout his childhood. But equally, I am grateful for the way she facilitated my regular access to Ben after she and he left Yorkshire, and, for the positive and meaningful influences provided to him through her relationship with John Faulkner.
I echo Ben’s sentiment that Angie was taken too soon. It is such a shame that she could not enjoy significantly more years of active and fulfilling retirement, especially after the years of dedicated commitment to the care of her father, Bill Scattergood, a man with whom I would like to have spent more time in his later years.
It has been a painful experience for Hazel and me to witness, through Ben’s communications, Angie’s illness, the discomfort of her repeated bouts of treatment and the particular difficulties of her last few weeks. I recognise the stoicism with which he reported that she dealt with those challenges.
Angie, those positive traits of your personality, so eloquently described by Ben, will live on in the minds of so many who knew you, and, in the ongoing life of that person who is our son. He is your greatest legacy.
Rest in Peace.
John Alderson
