Shop workers bid last goodbye to popular volunteer
Grandmother’s guard of honour by friends
A daughter says she could feel her mum smiling down during an emotional farewell.
Doreen Stephens made one last stop at the charity shop she loved earlier this month.
The great-grandmother’s funeral procession pulled up outside Making a Difference to Maidstone (MADM) in Church Street, where staff raised a mug to the 89-year-old, who died after a short battle with cancer.
The Vinter’s Park volunteer’s daughter, Therese Carter, said: “My mum had the most beautiful send off. Her coffin was covered in poppies, the sun was beating down and I could feel her smiling down.
“She used to visit the town or the shop every day, when we went to the funeral parlour we realised the procession would be quite short from her home to the crematorium. Me and my sister decided she should visit the town centre one last time.” Doreen had spent 16 years working at the Heart of Kent Hospice charity shop in Starnes Court, Union Street, until its closure in 2015.
Mrs Carter, from Headcorn, said: “That job meant everything to her, when she had the chance to volunteer at MADM it was like a second chance.
“The ladies at MADM meant everything to her, it’s great that they could give her one final send off.
“When I think of her funeral it brings a lump to my throat, but then I smile, she’d always been there for me and my sister and was the best mum you could ask for.
“She looked beautiful and it was a really special day, I know my mum would have loved it. “Last Christmas my mum told me ‘when I’m not here any more can you still lay a place for me at the table,’ at the time I told her not to talk to like that, but now I’ll be doing it this year.” Amanda Sidwell, founder of MADM, which supports the homeless and disadvantaged, spoke of the charity’s pride to be involved in Doreen’s funeral. She said: “It was incredibly moving, the procession pulled up at the end of our road in Church Street and the funeral director walked all the way down to our shop.
“We gave Doreen a final salute, it was really emotional. “Doreen was with us for three and a half years, she was a lovely lady.
“Her family and all of us at the charity were emotional on the day, she had a beautiful coffin and we’re glad we could help with support on the day.”