Mum lost her fight with cancer and the Beatson were amazing. Please sponsor me to do this race in her memory and to help Beatson continue the fight! 

Who was Brenda Lea?

 

Brenda was born in Liverpool in July 1937, at the age of two she moved to Long Eaton, Nottingham, where she lived until she was married.  She studied Pianoforte at the Royal Academy of Music in London; normally 2 instruments were required however her talent was such that she was one of the few to get in with just one.  She gained her Licentiate Diploma to teach piano in March 1957.

 

Brenda met Shandon in 1958, when she was working in the Record Rendezvous, music shop and coffee bar, Richmond,while studying.  When Shandon proposed in early 1958, she said “Yes Please!”  On the 3rd August 1959, they were married at St Elizabeth’s, Richmond on Thames.

They embarked on many adventures together, they bought their first house and began work on it in Derby in 1961; Brenda also bought her first concert piano and began teaching from home.  The work on the house finished in 1965 when their first son, Sebastian was born.  Their daughter Louisa was born in Stoke on Trent in 1968 and 2nd son Nicholas in 1973 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland.  Their second daughter, Bridgid was born in December 1980 and tragically died 3 months later; Brenda was devastated by this but as was her nature she held strong and carried on.  Their youngest daughter, Aurelia was born in March 1982 in Shrewsbury however they lived in Wales at that time.

 

Not content with bringing up four children and working hard they embarked on a number of projects; their house in Wales was taken from a shell to a family home in 12 years between the two of them and their children when old enough.  In 1988 they moved to Scotland, starting with a croft in Aberdeenshire; Mum was a dab hand at jumping fences, chasing goats and planting trees until she was nearly 60 years old. After a few moves they settled in Blairgowrie to support Brenda’s mother before settling near Dollar for the last 6 years; the projects did not stop here and they set upon a loft conversion, sadly Brenda became too unwell for this to continue.

 

Brenda brought up all of her children in the Catholic Faith; she believed in the values and teachings of the church and passed these on to her children.  She lived for her children and strove, often at her own expense to ensure that they all received a good education.  She was very proud to have a Naval Officer, Librarian, Mechanic and Social Worker in the family, all of whom achieved post graduate qualifications.

 

Brenda was a very active woman who enjoyed gardening, the odd spot of building work/decorating, knitting and could knock up a fantastic roast, not to forget her legendary sandwich mountains.  She had a fantastic sense of humour, something which saw her through the tough times.  She passed on her great courage to her family, teaching us all to never give up.

 

She had an infectious smile, a quick mind and a good heart.  She died peacefully after a long and hard battle with cancer, with her family around her.  We will miss her terribly but have many happy memories of a wife, mother and grandmother.  

 

 

 The staff at the Beatson were amazing! Please help them to continue to support patients and families through this awful disease and to continue research to beat it!!! 

I'll run as fast as I can! :) Aurelia 

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