A true lady – Sheila’s easy-going ways will be long remembered
THERE was widespread sadness throughout Wexford and beyond at the recent passing of Sheila Cullimore (nee McCormack).
Sheila was well-known throughout Wexford town and Rosslare and was beloved as a wife to her late husband Tom, mother to five daughters and son, grandmother to eight grandchildren and also a wide circle of friends.
Julia (Sheila) McCormack was born in 1927 in Spafield House, Wexford, to William and Annie McCormack, co-proprietors of McCormack & Hegarty Timber Merchants on Wexford Quay. She was the youngest girl of six children – Evelyn (Fennell), Madge (Gleeson), Paddy and Marty all pre-deceased her. Billy is now her only surviving sibling.
Before her marriage Sheila worked as a confectioner in Dublin and Waterford. She married Tom Cullimore in 1956 and they ran a successful family victualler business at 19 North Main Street until their retirement. For the early part of their married life they lived over the Main Street business, but they moved to Westgate in 1974 and then to Spawell Crescent in 2000.
Sheila was a great homemaker and her home was always a great focal point for her children and their families. She was renowned for her wonderful cooking and baking and if you happened to call you would always find that somehow your name was ‘in the pot’.
The family spent many summers at Sallyrua in Rosslare Strand, continuing a long-standing connection for both Tom and Sheila’s families with Rosslare. Both Tom and Sheila were long standing members of Rosslare Golf Club, where they enjoyed both the golf and its social element.
They were also keen ballroom dancers, be it the old Town Hall dances or Thursday nights in the Talbot Hotel, but their favourite dancefloor was in Kelly’s Hotel and they enjoyed many a night there with family and friends.
Sheila always had a keen interest in current affairs and was an avid reader. She kept up to date with all that was happening by reading both the local and national newspapers right up to the end of her life. She was also a wonderful wordsmith, regularly beating her daughters at Scrabble. She loved playing cards and was a longtime member of Wexford Bridge Club.
Sheila lost her beloved husband Tom in 2011, after which she suffered and survived breast cancer.
Sheila had a great admiration for Knockeen Nursing Home from regular visits there, and it was her express wish to see out her days there.
She moved to Knockeen in June 2014 and spent three and a half very happy years there. She was an active and enthusiastic resident there until her illness in September.
Sheila passed away peacefully on 10th October in Knockeen, surrounded by her loving family and under the wonderful care of Mary and Nicola and the staff of Knockeen Nursing Home.
She is survived by her brother Billy, her daughters Carmel, Gaye, Anne, Sheila and Kathy, son Joe, sons-in-law and grandchildren. RIP.