Karen Donald was born on 5th September 1953. She was one of three children of Beryl and Les. There are Sister Jayne and Brother Mark. Karen was brought up to have faith in God and was christened at St Andrews Church Hornchurch and was confirmed at St John’s church Swindon. From a very early age Karen was a neat and tidy person something which stayed with her all her life. There are many stories of her desire to be seen to be well turned out and has been known to clean her shoes with her handkerchief rather than appear to be badly turned out. Karen met Mick as a young teenager when Mick wasn’t quite the boy next day but rather the boy at the bottom of the garden. It was certainly a case of young love and much to her Dad Les’s disapproval Karen and Mick married when Karen was only 16 and Mick was 17. They said it would never last but last November they celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary. Karen worked in the offices of W H Smith until eldest daughter Helen was born. Natalie was born eight years later. Helen is married to Martin and Natalie to Millie. Sadly Martin can’t be here today as he is looking after fourteen year old James. Karen often thought of handsome, blue eyed James as the son she never had and absolutely adored him. Before Karen and Mick married they developed an interest in ballroom dancing. Mick wasn’t all that interested but any excuse to be out with Karen! Despite Mick’s lack of interest they continued dancing after they married and won several medals. Besides dancing Karen played Badminton tennis and snooker – she even had her own cue! Music played an important part of Karen’s life and this is reflected in the choice of songs we are listening to today. Elvis and the music of the 60’s were always favourites but Westlife and several more up to date tracks could also be heard in the home. I have to be careful to pronounce Karen’s name correctly and I’m told if you got it wrong and pronounced it differently you would be told in no uncertain terms the correct way to pronounce it. This was true of many things and Karen was quick to stand up for things she believed in. Family loyalty especially. There was the time when Mick had been playing with a rolling pin! It was placed on the floor and Mick rode the pin backwards and forwards with his feet on the handles until it inevitably broke. Karen picked up the rolling pin with the intention of just throwing it down to show she was cross. Mick finished up with a broken toe. The move to Spain had been planned for many years, starting with an inspection trip – just to look! They visited many properties and everyone seemed to shout NO until they visited the house that was to become home. Karen was very choosy about how things should be until one lady was heard to remark that Mrs Bucket was moving on to the street. Of course once they got to know Karen thy realised what a nice person she really was. It was two years ago when Karen and Mick finally moved to Spain and sadly the illness which was to take Karen’s life was discovered only 4 weeks after they moved here. Fortunately Mick had taken early retirement and was able to look after Karen throughout her 2 year illness. Beryl tells me she couldn’t have wished for a better son in law who really did give Karen the best possible care. Perhaps just one or two humorous anecdotes will bring all this story together. As I said earlier Karen was a little concerned about being neat and tidy and when it came to laundry there were several receptacles to keep different types of laundry separate. You can image the comments when Karen heard that the rinsing of some small items of underwear had taken place in the washing up bowl. Finally, just in the last week in hospital Karen was very ill and had been sick in a bowl. Mick had been reading the newspaper before he passed the bowl to Karen who was quick to notice and point out the dirty fingerprints he had made on the bowl as he passed it to her. Karen was a wonderful wife and mother and she will be sadly missed by everyone.