From: 148 Autumn 2018
Author: Roger Crapper
Born on the idyllic sub-tropical island of St Helena in the South Atlantic, Shirley George, with three brothers and a sister enjoyed a very happy family life. However, as a teenager, she decided to expand her horizons and came to London with her Aunt.
She became a companion to a titled lady whose family also had a house at Fernham, near Faringdon.
In due course, she worked for several years in the flagship branch of Marks and Spencer in Oxford Street, where she made many life-long friends.
However, on a visit to Fernham, she met and befriended the Stallard family and eventually went to live with them in Highworth, Wiltshire, and it was here that she met and married Howard in 1975. They lived for eighteen years in Carterton, where the family business was then based and she continued her career with M and S at the Oxford branch.
When the family business moved to larger premises in Swindon they, together with their daughter Carolyn, decided to move to the small village of Hinton Parva and Shirley eventually transferred to the Swindon branch of M and S where she worked until her retirement.
This proved to be a very fortuitous move and they became heavily involved in village life. They attended the parish church, where Shirley arranged the flowers, and became valued members of the community.
Shirley’s boundless energy and enthusiasm was also reflected in her untiring support for the Freemen and for Howard’s role as Chairman.
Membership of the Freemen of England and Wales took them far and wide across the country to represent Oxford.
It was on their return from such a function in Warwick, on a sunny afternoon in May that they were involved in a serious car accident in which Shirley tragically lost her life.
She will be sadly missed, not only by Howard, their daughter Carolyn and grandson Luke, but also by her many friends and family.