OBITUARY: Marie Raynor - 'a life of fun and happiness'

An 88-year-old resident of a Chapel St Leonards care home, who during her working life helped her builder husband develop fisheries the village, has sadly died.

Marie Raynor was born and raised in the unimaginatively named ‘Number 4 Council House on Wainfleet Bank - a contrast to her varied and fulfilling life.

Her full name was Marie Rose and so insisted she was called ‘Marry’ not ‘Maree’ .

Duttons on Lumley Road in Skegness gave Marie her forst job and she met her husband-to-be Ken Raynor at Mr and Mrs Crane’s School of Dance on the High Street. Their favourite dances were the waltz and the quickstep).

They married at Wainfleet All Saints Parish Church, with her sister Susan as bridesmaid, and moved into ‘Springfield’ in Chapel Saint Leonards - a bungalow built for them by Ken.

The couple raised their two children, Diane and David, at Springfield and Marie ran the house, as well as working part-time at the Boating Lake at Chapel, while supporting Ken as he built up the Raynor Brothers building firm with his brother, Dennis.

One of her children’s standout memories of childhood is walking home from school with their Mum to find that she had left the chip pan on while collecting them and the kitchen was well alight. Fortunately Ken was working just down the road and was able to be fetched and douse the fire.

Later Marie helped Ken, after the firm had built more than 100 homes in Chapel Saint Leonard’s, create and develop ‘Hillview Fisheries’ on the A52 between Chapel and Hogsthorpe. The whole family spent many happy evenings there barbecuing as the sun set over the Wolds.

Marie enjoyed making wine, along with a rather lethal sloe gin. One afternoon, her children came home from school to find her fast asleep on the bed, after siphoning some wine.

She played badminton and enjoyed going to the Wimbledon Championships with friends. She was a gardener and channelled her middle name in growing roses, as well as other flowers. In middle age she also completed an advanced driving course.

Marie enjoyed travelling with Ken with many holidays in the UK, in the Broads and Scotland particularly, and farther afield in Majorca, Spain, Italy France and Canada. She particularly enjoyed family holidays with her grandchildren Jennifer, Kate, Catherine and Sarah. She was delighted to meet her great grandson Leo when Kate and Diane took him to visit her in early 2020.

A family friend recently described Marie as very positive and cheerful, and always ready to have a giggle. She was always very smartly dressed with a lovely hair-do and beautifully painted nails - and loved to go shopping at any opportunity.

In her last years, Marie lived at the Phoenix Care Home in Chapel Saint Leonards, close to where she had lived for over 60 years. Here she made the most of her limited health, very kindly looked after by the Phoenix staff.

Marie loved doing jigsaws in later life, often to be seen poring over a puzzle - and her life could be summed up in a jigsaw of modest beginnings, followed by a very successful family life, lots of fun and happiness and a long and fruitful retirement.