Elizabeth Eleanor Pearce
20th of October 1935-28th of April 2020
a tribute from Neil and Nigel Pearce
 
If two words had to be used to sum up Elizabeth, they would be family and faith.
 
Elizabeth was a devoted wife, mother and grandmother, for whom family were precious and the greatest source of joy and pride in her life. Nothing made Elizabeth happier than all being together as a family again. She lost her husband and soulmate, Alan, 28 years ago, taken too young by an aggressive cancer, but today they are reunited again following a separation that she bore with stoic determination and quiet dignity. Together they had brought two sons into the world and set them on a path to future success in many aspects of their lives, which were an enduring source of pride, but it was also her deepest regret, that Alan could not be with her to share the joy of grandchildren, who gave her so much pleasure over the last decades of her life.
 
Over the next 28 years Elizabeth continued to follow the path that she and Alan had already devoted their lives to, serving the church at Parkside Hall and the community through voluntary work for Maidenhead care and Thames Valley hospice. Elizabeth was a kind, gentle and generous lady, whose trusting nature could sometimes make her seem naïve, but she had a strength of character and levels of determination that were a force to be reckoned with.
 
Elizabeth had a surprising spirit of adventure, which manifested itself most on holiday. As a teenager she hitchhiked around western Germany and Austria with a girl friend at a time when this sort of travel simply was not the done thing for a respectable girl. With her young family she had Alan embarked on a range of holidays that ranged from the bizarre Danish pig farm holiday, through to some ridiculous capers on holidays across France undertaken with minimal planning, even less French language, but a desire to experience different cultures and ways of life. Several of these holidays were taken with her much loved younger brother Bill, his wife Joyce and Joanne and Stephen. These holidays were a mixture of highs and lows as our family incompetence managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in a range of circumstances with hilarious and chaotic consequences. Together with Alan she had seen much of the globe including organising school trips to the holy land and taking a round the world trip to visit family in Australia and New Zealand as well as finally seeing some  of his favourite places from his many business trips in the 1960s and 70s. Later she continued to enjoy holiday adventures with her friends and family after being widowed, travelling to South Africa, Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany, Florida and taking cruises to see the Northern lights and river cruises through central Europe.
 
Elizabeth was a north-east girl and never completely lost her accent or her love of Tyneside and Northumberland. She had a particular love for the village of Long horsely where she lived during the war with her mother and younger brother bill, to avoid the air raids in Newcastle. They were some of the happiest days of her life, living with her extended family as they ran the village shop, Mission Hall and local farm. It was from these early days that it became clear she was destined to be a schoolteacher as she enforced school lessons and strict discipline on her younger brother bill, several years before he was of school-age. Elizabeth went to teacher training college and initially worked as a primary school teacher in Newcastle, before moving to Burnham when Alan got his breakthrough job with Housman Thompson.. At the local primary school where she started work she met her good friend Pam, who became her close friend and confidant for life. After being a stay-at-home mum following her second child she returned to work in the mid-70s, this time as a religious education teacher at a secondary modern school in Maidenhead. At the time this would have been a very unattractive job and it certainly gave her exposure to a side of life which she had largely been sheltered from prior to this but being Elizabeth she persevered and was determined to make the most of the job and set an example and Christian witness to help shine a light into the lives of others. She set up a Christian union within the school and this thrived as she took many children on holidays, after-school and weekend clubs. Ultimately bringing many to a knowledge of her Lord and saviour. The school became a comprehensive and its reputation flourished, but she decided to leave after a sorry episode involving her exposure of the serial paedophile David Hawkins, when others sprang to his defence and no one supported her as she sought to bring an end to his disgusting reign. She subsequently became head of religious education at Newlands School for girls and once again embarked on a happy continuation of her teaching career, where she worked until the end of her career again being heavily involved with the Christian union as well as art and drama. Elizabeth had a talent for art and craft that could find free expression as she supported the school amateur dramatic productions, with scenery props and costumes.
 
Elizabeth was a woman of unwavering faith, whose deep spirituality and strong Christian values gave her a moral compass which few could rival. Her devotion to the Lord was absolute, even through times of hardship and deep personal loss, her faith in God and her saviour Jesus Christ could not be shaken. This gave her an ability to come to terms with life events, knowing that she was safe in the hands of her Lord and Father and that by trusting in him to guide her footsteps through the power of prayer, she could be strong. This faith served her well throughout her youth, adult life and into old age, even into her final days as she prepared to meet her Lord in heaven. Reunited with her beloved Alan, in the sure and certain knowledge of eternal life.
 
Rest in peace