‘Wonderful Willie’ will be missed
Tributes to former ward sister at Scarborough Hospital who dedicated her life to children
A devoted nursing and ward sister who once received over 1,000 signatures to save her job at Scarborough Hospital has died.
Audrey Patricia Williams, known to most as ‘Willie’, began nursing at Scarborough Hospital in 1957 as a qualified children’s nurse and began to train for her State Registered Nursing Certificate.
A popular member of the team, Audrey was an award winning student nurse and settled into her post on the Duke of Kent ward where she was promoted to ward sister.
She held this post for almost 40 years.
Originally from Sheffield, Audrey lived with her loving parents and her identical twin sister, Barbara.
They both moved to Burniston and always remained close. Audrey cared for Barbara until she passed away five years ago.
Never married, Audrey is said to have devoted her life to the children she cared for and was much loved and respected in the hospital.
She cared for many children from the area and her eccentric and caring personality always shone through.
After almost 40 years, Audrey’s job was threatened, due to hospital cuts. Her friend Val Parkes spoke of how Audrey was told she was incompetent because she needed glasses.
Over 1,000 people signed a petition, Save Our Sister, to save her job but she was forced to take redundancy.
Val said: “There will never be anybody like that lady to me, she was the best nurse Scarborough hospital has ever had in my opinion.”
Just two days before Audrey died three of her colleagues visited and were touched to find her neighbours sitting at her bedside.
Audrey, 80, wished to stay at home and the kind neighbours and the “outstanding” nurses from St Catherine’s Hospice at Home and Marie Curie made this possible.
Former colleagues and dear friends of Audrey said: “Audrey touched so many young lives and it can be said that she loved all children and was much admired by her colleagues, both doctors and nurses alike.
“Tribute must be paid to the truly wonderful people of Burniston who cared for Audrey so lovingly.”
Loving, caring and utterly devoted to her job, Audrey was said to be “brilliantly clever about children.”
Val added: “She was such a lovely woman. She was loved by everyone and she never forgot a face. People on the bus would come and talk to her everybody knew her.
“Her life was the children and all children in her eyes were wonderful.”