Kind, caring mum and gran who enjoyed playing host
NOREEN goodson was a devoted wife AND mum whose generous Nature extended to her Entire family as well as a wide circle of friends
NOREEN Goodson was at her happiest surrounded by those she loved. She lived to the great age of 90, and throughout those nine decades her kind and caring nature never wavered.
She enjoyed nothing more than hosting extended family and friends at home, and it was this sense of companionship that drove her
– as well as her incredibly close relationship to beloved husband Mervyn and their daughter Mandy.
“Family was more important to Mum than anything,” explains Mandy, 59. “Dad and I, her brothers Derek and Trevor, her grandchildren and greatgrandchildren, all her nieces and nephews and close friends meant so much to her. Everything she and Dad did was together.”
Noreen was born the middle child of three to parents Arthur and Becky in Skegness, where she was raised until the age of 11.
“Becky ran a B&B, and all sorts of interesting people stayed there,” Mandy says. “I remember Mum talking about a group of circus entertainers and their performing dogs!”
ON THE MOVE
In 1941 the family relocated to Nottingham after Arthur – considered too old to serve in the Army – went to work at Chilwell Ordnance Depot, helping to make ammunition. The family returned to
Noreen left school at 15 to work in a hosiery factory in the city. She married Mervyn – who worked as an engineering draftsman – in 1952. “Mum and Dad had a very happy partnership and were married for 65 years,” Mandy recalls fondly. “Both were very caring, family focused people, although I’d say Dad was a little more stubborn! “They enjoyed travelling together, soaking up the local culture and scenery. We went to Spain and Austria when I was a child, and in later years they visited Barbados. “It was a few years before I came along, so it ended up being just the three of us, and we were a close unit. Mum liked having dinner parties and entertaining so often invited family around. She was quite an ambitious cook.” Noreen also enjoyed knitting, reading and in particular gardening. Her garden was full of flowers that she took great pride in.
Mum liked having dinner parties and entertaining – she was quite an ambitious cook Mandy, Noreen’s daughter
Nan,” Mandy says. “My children always knew they could wrap her around their little fingers.
GREAT GRAN
“I worked at the Ministry of Defence for many years, and Mum looked after the kids. They loved playing games and going to the park. She also had a Shih Tzu called Woody who was her great companion.”
In 2017 Mervyn sadly died following a long illness. Noreen never quite got over her loss.
“Mum was very independent for years, but had found the lockdown restrictions hard,” Mandy says. “She became frail in recent months and kept contracting infections. One Sunday morning she was in pain so I called an ambulance. She passed away peacefully that afternoon at Queen’s Medical Centre.”
Noreen’s funeral was held at Bramcote Crematorium, and the music played included My Way by Frank Sinatra, who Noreen loved, and Vera Lynn’s We’ll Meet Again.
“I’ll always remember Mum working away in her little gardening shoes,” Mandy says. “I know that she is with Dad now. He’d have been waiting for her, saying: ‘Get a move on!’”