MaryWILLISdied peacefully at home in Chadderton on Tuesday, June 15, aged 88. Mary was born in Haslingden and was the only daughter of Ethel and Richard Hardman, who ran a butcher’s shop on Bury Road for many years. She leaves her daughter and son, Julie and David, and her son-in-law Frank and daughter-in-law Nicky. She also leaves her younger brother David Hardman, his wife, Kathleen, and her two nieces, their daughters, Susan and Carol, and families. Mary was devoted to her children, and she was a devoted Grandma and Granny to her five grandchildren, Matthew, Christopher and Emily, and Jack and Rosa in New Zealand. She was loved dearly by all her family and friends and she will be very sadly missed. She attended St James’s Junior School in Haslingden and then Haslingden Grammar School. On leaving school she attended Guest’s Secretarial College in Blackburn and then worked firstly in the office at Clough End Mill, then the office at TMM in Helmshore where she met her husband, Gerald. She then worked as a school secretary, firstly at Haslingden County Primary School, then Haslingden High School until her retirement. She was predeceased by her beloved husband, Gerald, when he died in tragic circumstances in 1973, and then later by her very dear friend Jack Dewhurst in 2010. The funeral will be held on Friday, July 2 at 10am at Haslingden Baptist Church, followed by a cremation at Accrington Crematorium. Family flowers only and donations to Cancer Research and Dr Kershaw’s Hospice, Oldham. Sadly due to Covid restrictions, numbers will be limited to close family and friends. Funeral director: Caroline HoldenDewhurst for Johnson Durning & Woods, Haslingden.
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