A Fond Farewell to Betty Marks

Betty Marks died in November last year and the following are extracts from the tribute at her
funeral.

Elizabeth Marks, or Betty as we all knew her, was born in 1929. On the very day that she finished
her leaving exams in 1943 Betty was taken out of school by her mother and marched up to Cadhay
which was to be her home for the next sixty years. Cadhay had been occupied by my great grand
parents, Barton and Sugar Plum, since the 1920’s. During the war their three remaining sons went
Country Life off to fight leaving their wives and eight children  to live at Cadhay. This was no Downton Abbey which Betty found herself in. The Butler, the Housekeeper, the footman, the parlour maid
and the housemaids left to help the war effort.

There was still a cook, Mrs Wadlow, and Phyllis, the scullery maid, merrily cleaning the pots and
pans, but almost all the rest of the staff eventually went. Stocker was now on his own in the garden,
but still managed to keep the household well supplied with vegetables. Stevens, the former
chauffer/groom had to become a Jack of all trades by day and by night he was a Sergeant in the
Home Guard. Understandably Betty always did everything at a run and I can still hear the sound
of Betty’s footsteps resounding down the passages. At the end of the War my grandfather left the
Navy and he and his family came to live at Cadhay with his parents, who survived into the 1950’s. By
now Phyllis and Betty were the only members of staff living in the house and formed the backbone
of the household which meant so much to us as children.

Cadhay was left to Oliver who continued to live in the house with his mother, my grandmother
Barbara and, when she died in 1997, Betty became the lady of the house until Oliver died in 2001.
After sixty years Betty moved out to a bungalow in Ottery and eventually to a retirement home.
Cadhay, and all those that lived there with Betty, are deeply indebted to her for all the hard work
and companionship that she gave over so many years.