Tributes to ‘lovely, happy’ tearoom employee Edie
Owner Emma: ‘It’s strange not having her here’
TRIBUTES have been pouring in for a popular tearoom employee who died five days after her return from a cruise across the Mediterranean.
Edith ‘Edie’ Swinscoe – who has been described as ‘the heart of Hetty’s’ – was a team member at Hetty’s Tea Shop in Froghall.
The well-known Moorlands café was named after her late sister Hetty.
81-year-old Edie and her adopted daughter Jenny had just returned from a cruise on February 8 before she died at around 1.30am on Sunday, February 13.
Emma Atkinson named the café after her nan and she has now paid tribute to her great-aunt.
The 46-year-old said: “We didn’t think she’d been well for some time, but it was sudden. It was a shock to us. She was very frail.
“It’s been difficult coming back to work. It’s very strange not having her here. I called her my Duracell bunny because she never stopped.
“She was just a lovely, happy and positive worker. She was a big part of the family and was the heart of Hetty’s. We all feel so sad.
“We went on a lot of family holidays abroad together so we had a lot of happy memories to share. She was very funny. My fondest memories of her will be when we went on these holidays before lockdown.”
Edie had worked at the tearoom for the last five years. Emma had two coffee shops prior to opening the café and her great-aunt had been working there too.
Emma added: “Family was everything to her. Her and Jenny were so close.
“I can’t begin to tell you how much she will be missed. We’ve got a huge social media following and had over 1,000 acknowledgements when we lost her. I don’t think she realised how much she’d be missed.
“A huge hole is going to be left in our hearts, it’s very sad.”
Jane Beresford, a supervisor at Hetty’s tea shop, had known Edie for three years. The 51-year-old said: “Edie was a very kind and caring lady. She always took a lot of interest in all members of staff, especially the young members of staff. I’ve got two daughters who work here and they loved her very much. “She was extremely hard-working. “I was very upset and we still are. As somebody gets older, you do realise it might happen but, when it does, it’s still a big shock. We will miss her terribly.
“We gave her a lovely surprise 80th birthday party on January 27 last year. We kept it a surprise and we had a cake made for her.
“When she was in the kitchen, everybody came into the tea shop and we surprised her with it and she was shocked. She said it was such a special moment for her.
“We are going to miss her cuddles, laughter and her presence. She was so well thought of and I don’t think she understood how much people cared about her either. She was a very humble lady.”