Following the death of Eve Bloomfield her daughter, Michelle Webster shared her memories of her mother and has kindly agreed to them being published here along with information on how to donate in her memory:
In memory of Mum
Eve was born in Hockwold, Norfolk, in 1932. The youngest of three, she lived in an isolated house on Thetford Chase, with no electricity or water. Her father, Arthur, was a gamekeeper and her mother was a postwoman.
At 14 Eve left school to work on Lakenheath Air Base as a domestic helper. She married her first husband, an American and in 1956 she had a son, Arthur. Her husband had been posted back to the US and she was all set to join him but found she could not bear to leave her family in the UK.
Whilst living with her sister in St Ives she met John Bloomfield, a Walberswick man, at a dance. They married and moved to Walberswick in 1962. Eve said she was only going to stay a year, but it turn into 55! In 1967 they had me, their daughter Michelle ,and she had 3 grandchildren, Matthew, Phillip and Christopher. Eve loved her garden and nature, she was a true animal lover. She loved to cook and her family were given jars of the jams and chutneys she loved to make. Eve always put other people first, she even made the Sun newspaper for hatching a chick in her bra.
She worked in more than thirteen houses in Walberswick, but those are only the ones I counted, there may have been a lot more. She tended the conveniences for 27 years and always rode her bike up and down the street from home to the Village Hall and the village dogs always knew she had biscuits in her pocket for them. We worked out that she cycled over 18,000 there and back over the years!
When her husband John died in 2005 she carried on; she was small but mighty in terms of determination and her way was the only way. She had a wicked sense of humour, always ready with a wink and a smile, right up until her final weeks. Her last few years were hard as could no longer do the things she loved as she couldn’t leave the house due to being on oxygen 24/7. She lost her son to Motor Neurone Disease last year but stayed strong for us all and remained independent till she broke her hip in a fall.
She had wonderful support from her care team from District Care and Sole Bay Heath Centre, and Cathy Ryan was a good friend to her. She had her final wish to pass away at home, with me with her.
I’d like to thank everyone for their support and especially the Sole Bay Team for all they have done. If anyone would like to make a donation in love of Eve, please send it to them:
Link to the donations page: https://mydonate.bt.com/charities/solebaycarefund
Sole Bay Health Centre
Teal Close
Reydon
IP18 6GY