Norah died March 1st 2010 and the following is the Eulogy given by John Eddison, a nephew to Norah’s husband
Norah Rayner was my aunt, my mother’s sister, and one of dearest friends.
Norah a was born on January 26, 1921 Greenwich, the 2nd child of Harold and Mary Ridger. She was educated at St Helen’s and Blackheath High School. She excelled particularly well on the sports field – she was an accomplished lacross player, sprinter and swimmer, and also played tennis to a high standard. She took part in the junior Beckenham Tennis Tournament, a lead-in tournament to Wimbledon.
On leaving school, she went to Catinka Dressmaking School to train as a Court Dressmaker, and, there became very accomplished at all forms of needlework and dressmaking. With the outbreak of war, she joined the WRVS and drove canteen lorries around London. During the Battle of Britain, she used to spend time in Greenwich Park watching the bombing of the docks and the dogfights. She even kept a piece of shrapnel which felt one night as a flaming piece of metal. It was in Greenwich Park that she met her husband, Leonard, who was a trainee naval architect at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. They were married at St. John’s Church, Blackheath, on 21st February 1942. Leonard joined the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors and they moved to Bath, where they had a flat by the River Avon, from where Norah watched the enemy planes during the Baedeker raids flying literally past their windows.
Leonard was posted to Largs in Scotland where in 1944, Jennifer, their first daughter was born. They returned to Bath after the war and in 1947 Norah gave birth to their second child, a son, Christopher, who sadly only survived for three days.
Leonard’s next appointment took them to Portsmouth, and their third child, Margaret, was born in 1948 at Gosport.
The family returned to Bath in 1950, where they lived until 1955, and it was during this time Norah began working for the Conservatives. She helped the family budget by making clothes for the children and for herself. These included beautiful smocked dresses, which the girls hated! Norah and Leonard played a lot of tennis, and she was proud to win on several occasions at the Admiralty Sports.
In 1955 Leonard was posted to Gibraltar, where Norah joined him with Margaret, while Jenny stayed back in the UK at boarding school. There, they had a lovely colonial house at Rosia Bay, where they were able to spend lots of time on the beach and playing tennis, and from there they had a fine view overlooking the Straits of Gibraltar. Norah threw herself into the life of being a naval officer’s wife, and was a brilliant hostess at the parties held both at home and in the dockyard. Norah also enjoyed attending functions, and was proud to have met members of royalty and overseas dignitaries at some of them.
She ran the Dockyard’s Women’s Guild and was very active in that amateur dramatics, in which she was always part of the chorus. She was also in charge of their costumes many of which she made herself. For the first production of Oklahoma, she made all of the men’s trousers, though she often joked that she had forgotten to put the zips in them. While in Gibraltar, she took over the running of the second Gibraltar brownies based at Government House, which Margaret joined. It was here in Gibraltar that she started selling poppies for the British Legion.
Norah had always had great love of flowers and delighted in the abundance of beautiful Mediterranean blooms in their Garden. She was part of a team who arranged the flowers in Gibraltar Cathedral.
Norah could always be relied upon. In the 1958 when Leonard suddenly had to leave Gibraltar for health reasons, she single-handedly cleared and packed up the house, and returned to the UK with Margaret on the P & O Liner Oronsay. She was very seasick!
On her return to Bath, Norah took up her work for the Conservatives and the British Legion, and became second in command of a guide pack. She also arranged the flowers at the local church.
In Bath, Norah and Leonard continued to entertain and be entertained frequently, and became well known for their cocktails. She liked to remember the time that one cocktail was so potent that it exploded in the dining room cupboard!
In 1966, Leonard was appointed Warship Production Superintendent, based at Wallsend, on the Tyne, and Norah once again packed up her home, and moved to Stocksfield, near Hexham, where they bought a house. Here they had a large garden and Norah created a beautiful show of flowers. In Stocksfield, Norah continued to work for the Conservatives, and was thrilled to receive a commendation for 20 years of service from then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. She continued to work for the British Legion and also helped run the village nearly- new shop –Davy Jones’ Locker. Some weekends, officers from NATO ships docking on the Tyne came for Sunday lunch and Norah continued her custom off being an excellent hostess.
Throughout her life, Norah loved her family, and while in the Stocksfield, became a grandmother to both Jenny and Mike’s and Margaret and John’s children: Andrew, Nicky, Alexandra and Alastair. In August 2009, she became a great grandmother when Nicky and Jonah had a son, Oscar. This gave her immense pleasure.
In 1987, Norah and Leonard decided to move away from Scottsfield to Ripon in order to be closer to some members of their family. They bought a house in Cathedral Close, and very quickly made friends and settled into life in Ripon.
Norah became a welcomer at the Cathedral, joined the Conservative ladies tea club, helped at the Mencap nearly – new shop in Harrowgate and once more worked for the British Legion. She received a service medal from the British Legion for her many years work. She and Leonard attended this church and were in charge of the commemoration Garden for many years. They also derived immense pleasure from their own garden at Cathedral Close.
In 1992, Norah and Leonard celebrated the golden wedding anniversary with a party to which a large number of their families came. After Leonard died, Norah continued to live at Cathedral Close and devoted much of the time to her garden. When her health began to deteriorate, she decided to move to a smaller property – a flat in Riverside House. In the last few years, she began to find life increasingly difficult and needed more and more help. In April of last year, following a fall which fractured a knee, she decided to move to Lister House for some rest, and later decided to remain there.
In her adult life, Norah was an excellent hostess, had a wicked sense of humor, and loved her garden. She will be remembered particularly for her love of the family, for being a wonderful wife, mother and grandmother.
I, myself, will always remember as the aunt that sat on my bed and humourously helped me revise for my Latin exam by reading Winnie the Pooh in Latin, her eyes, watering with laughter as she grinned at me from behind her specs.
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