Family and friends will gather at Legends from 9pm this evening (November 19) to raise a glass or two, to Rose Chillingworth and celebrate her life.
ROSE was born in 1932 and went to school locally in Tottenham, London. During the Second World War, she was evacuated to Mildenhall, Suffolk, along with her mother, brother and sister.
When Rose left school she went to work at Canon Rubber in Tottenham Hale, where she met her future Husband Ken. They loved to go dancing at the Tottenham Royal Dance Hall and often went to the cinema together. They began courting on 13.6.1948 and married five years later on 22.8.1953.
Rose and Ken started married life in Tottenham Hale, where they had Sue and Steve. The flat was then too small, so they moved to Wood Green, where Jan was born. Once again the maisonette was too small, so they moved to Enfield.
Rose worked at a printing company and Chubb Alarm. Ken went to work at Trox in Enfield and when the company relocated to Thetford in Norfolk, the family moved there and brought Broadlands on Hopton Road, Garboldisham.
Rose helped to start a youth club in Garboldisham and sat on various committees. She was a very social person with lots of friends from all walks of life. She had a bubbly personality with a beautiful heart and smile.
Rose’s hobbies included bingo, crochet, knitting, reading, crosswords and she loved reading her daily newspapers.
She loved going to darts and snooker with Ken, visiting lots of local pubs for the competitions when he was playing and she worked at various shops and factories in Thetford & Diss.
Daughters Sue and Jan married and produced five grandchildren, Wayne, Kerry, Nikki, David and Mikey, and loved looking after them. When Jan went back to work, Rose was childminder to Mikey.
When Mikey started play school Rose began helping out, all the children would call her Nanny,
and she continued to help out, after he went to school.
Eventually Rose had Great Grandchildren, Calum, Caitlin, Isla and Eden, with some step Grandchildren too.
They all loved her to bits and she them in return. They called her Nanny Ro-Ro, which she loved
and she was extremely proud of them all.
In 2001, aged 69, Rose decided she wanted some excitement and after visiting Brighton chose to move there to be near her son Steve who was a popular licensee in the city.
Rose was very popular in Brighton where she worked in the cloakroom and collected door money at the much missed Harlequin club.
She was well-loved by all the drag artists and customers alike with many calling her Mum or Nan.
She loved the Marine Tavern Quiz nights hosted by Nat, and was a regular fund-raiser for various charitable causes including cutting people’s hair, knitting scarves for Help The Heroes, and selling raffle tickets.
In 2015 Rose wanted to move back to Garboldisham to spend her remaining years there and see more of her great-grandchildren.
When her vascular dementia progressed, she required help with her personal care, which was provided by the brilliant staff at Sunrise Carers, but eventually Rose needed far more, so she became a resident at The Beeches in East Harling.
Steve her son says she was extremely lucky to be in such an amazing place for her last few months. He says the carers there were Angels in disguise, with nothing being too much for them.
Steve and the family are very grateful to each and everyone at The Beeches, where Rose was given the nicknames of Pickle, Nanna and 1 Eyed Pirate, was cared for with love and respect and where once again she was adopted as a Nan.
She had a full and social life, and made many friends along the way who loved her dearly.
Rose’s family are all very thankful that she still remembered them all in her remaining days.
As Rose’s funeral was in Norfolk, Steve and the family wanted to have an event in Brighton where friends could remember Rose and celebrate her life.
Family and friends will be gathering at Legends tonight, Monday, November 19 from 9pm. Cabaret will be hosted by one of Rose’s favourite entertainers, Miss Jason and will start at 10pm. Surprise guests will be popping in to sing a few numbers.
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