Gladys to mark 105th birthday
A lifelong Horsham resident who owned a children’s clothes shop in the Carfax is set to celebrate her 105th birthday.
Gladys May Walker, who was also a dinner lady in the 1950s, will mark her big day from Wellcross Grange Care Home, in Slinfold, where she currently resides.
Born in the Bishopric two doors away from the Kings Arms pub on December 29, 1915, Gladys was the second child of George and Edith Petts.
She went to school in Victory Road and later Oxford Road andre members walking from home in the Bishopric to Victory Road school by walking across the fields where Rushams Road and the Davis Estate are now.
Her elder brother was Alfred (known as Styx, because later on he was a drummer in local bands) and her younger brother was Jim who was a saxophone player in Horsham bands including the Progression aires.
Her father George Petts was a well-known butcher in Elm Grove, and Styx took over the business before his father retired.
In 1940 she married Andy Walker, and they had two sons – Rex and Ross.
Gladys’ first job was in Lakers in West Street, selling ladies’ clothing and she had various jobs including waitressing for Wakefields outside catering, and as a dinner lady at Collyer’s Grammar School in the 1950s.
She ran The Children’s Shop in The Carfax for 15 years, from around 1967 until 1982, in partnership with friend Peggy Scobbie until she retired.
“These were all happy days until sadly within six years she lost her mother-inlaw, father, mother and then her husband, Andy, in 1966, aged 50,” said Gladys’ son, Ross.
“This was a terrible shock, but she recovered strongly by learning to drive.
“She also got in touch with cousins in Australia, whose parents had emigrated there in 1912.
“In subsequent years she travelled there about 20 times to visit them, each time on her own. She had never met them before going there for the first time – and it was a six week trip – so thank goodness they all got on well together. She loved them and they loved her. They saw her as their link to their English ancestry.”
In latter years she remained in Horsham. She loved music, and several members of the family were musicians including her brother-in-law, the late Freddie Woods, and also her grandson Andy Walker who is a saxophone player and teacher.
Ross said: “This love of music and attending all the gigs and functions certainly helped her to keep going. She had a tremendous zest for life. A small whiskey in the evenings was also a treat she enjoyed, and nothing made her more happy than a family party.”
Gladys unfortunately developed dementia at the age of 102 when the family thought she would probably escaped it.
The family are allowed to visit her at Wellcross Grange in a specially built glass partitioned room with builtin intercom where they hope to hold a small party.