Irene Christie

3 July 1925-11 Sep 2017

EARLY DAYS

Dorothy Irene Christie was born in Loughborough on Friday 3rd July 1925 to her parents Dorothy and David.

She had an older half brother, Ron and was followed by two sisters, Mary (Florence Mary) and Bess, then by a brother David.

Irene's father worked as a lacemaker and the family lived in Burleigh Road in Loughborough.

Irene went to primary school in Rendle Street and went onto secondary school at Limehurst High School.

WAR TIME

When Irene was 14, World War II started. Irene worked in the Moira box factory and did other war work. Her brother Ron volunteered to enlist but was refused as he was in a reserved occupation. He trained as a first aider so he could assist in other ways.

The war came closer with the commissioning of RAF Wymeswold, which opened on 16 May 1942. Flight crew trained at Wymeswold and came into Loughborough some evenings for dances.

One of the trainee air crew at RAF Wymeswold from Sep 1942 to Jan 1943 was Robert Christie (Chris) who came to a dance one evening at Loughborough Town Hall.

Irene and Chris met, and danced. They courted but Chris was posted onto active ops from April 1943 to Jan 1944. Luckily he made it through all 30 ops.

WEDDING

Irene and Chris arranged their wedding day and were married on Saturday 3rd June 1944.

They were married at the Holy Trinity Church in Loughborough (3 days before D-Day).

Family and friends collected ration tokens so there was food for the wedding and for ingredients to make the wedding cake.

They went on honeymoon to Wales. They couldn't go on the beach though as it was covered in barbed wire and mined.

FAMILY LIFE

Following their wedding, Chris was still on active duty and away so Irene stayed in a flat in Victoria Street. The landlady was not keen generally of men, so when Chris returned they had to move out, and found a house in Albert Street.

After the end of the war and demobilisation, jobs were not easy to find but with the help of his father and his contacts, Chris got a job in the textile industry.

Life settled down and their daughter Ann was born in July 1946. When Ann was 5 years old, the family moved to Manor Road in Shelthorpe, staying there for many years.

GRAND CHILDREN

Irene was a very active grandmother. Her and Chris were delighted to have grandchildren and early on Irene gave up her job to help out with childcare.

Her and Chris were living in Nottingham so four days a week she took the bus from Nottingham City centre, then the South Notts bus to Loughborough, a round trip of around 2 hours.

A full day sorting the house followed before greeting Tim, Caroline and Nick as they came back from school.

Then finally back on the bus to Nottingham to get back home around 7.30pm. She did this for over 15 years!

RETIREMENT AND GREAT GRANDCHILDREN

In later life, Chris continued to work for Charnwood Ties with Ann and Irene came to help him.

They enjoyed their bungalow in Shepshed - often they would be found enjoying a drink on their patio in the sunshine - then moved back to Loughborough.

They took many holidays together and were overjoyed to see six great grandchildren. Chris passed away in 2013.

Irene continued to come to Ann's most days and kept busy with her household routines. She greatly enjoyed visits by family and family holidays.

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