Extraordinary LIVES
ELEANOR was everything to me — and everyone else knew her as a legendary cake baker, especially for charity. She would always be saying: ‘Put the oven on — I have to make 36 scones for the Children’s Society coffee morning.’ People had only to ask. An only child, she was seven when her father died after being injured in a wartime air raid. Eleanor and her mother were evacuated to Nigg, in Ross-shire. Her upbringing made her familyorientated — she put a massive emphasis on values and was the foundation and rock of her home. We met in September 1952 at a Methodist youth club. After I persuaded her to accompany me to a college dance on my 21st birthday, we started walking out. We married at Holy Trinity Church, Redhill, Surrey, on March 26, 1955. Our best man and bridesmaid, Thomas and Ivy Gwillym, have been great life-long friends. Eleanor was a smart, upstanding lady and I was proud to have her on my arm for more than 65 years. I was a sales rep for Brillo and in 1961 a promotion saw us move to Dorset. Eleanor was thrilled with her new-build bungalow in Colehill. We had three children,
Mark, Sarah and Matthew, and in 1974 Eleanor set up the first local playgroup and joined the Young Wives and Mothers’ Union. She sang in the choir and was a founder member of the Wimborne swimming club — Harry Corbett of Sooty fame was patron. Matthew died, age 33, of leukaemia, which had a huge effect on the family, especially Eleanor, who never really recovered. In 1985, she fulfilled her dream of running her own Victorian-style tea room, Riverside Mews. She joined Wimborne Chamber of Trade, serving as chairman and then president. In 1989, she visited Ochsenfurt, Germany, as part of a town twinning event and saw the Berlin Wall come down. As part of the fundraising to save a model town, Eleanor baked 750 scones and 35 Victoria sponges for a cream tea in a marquee. She was a founder member of Wimborne In Bloom and planted many tubs, and had a long association with Wimborne Minster. A regular worshipper, her faith gave her comfort and a sense of belonging. Over the years, she was a sidesman, welcomer, flower arranger and guide at the Minster. She loved spending time with her three grandchildren and one great-grandchild, and would always support any group for the good of Minster. There was nothing she wouldn’t attempt if it helped someone.
ELEANOR DUNNINGHAM, born march 17, 1933; died may 2, 2018, aged 85.