Ian Watson, the son of Betty Watson (née Needham), would like you to give members of the Tanfield Association formal notice of the passing one of its members: his mother, Betty Watson,
whom you and I - and many others - will know over years of friendship thorough the Association and the teaching profession in this part of the world.
On Tuesday, Ian,
a singleton who has lived and worked in Glasgow since about 1998, learned that his mother is with us no longer. In 2021, at the beginning of August, Betty (née Needham) had gone into residential care
at Lindisfarne in Ouston (Chester-le-Street).
Initially, her husband Bill had been able to walk from their home in Ouston to visit Betty daily, but became seriously ill and died that year on November 21. From then on,
Ian made time to visit his mother in most months. Betty's decline since entering Lindisfarne seems to have been gentle until two short attacks of pneumonia last month, which received hospital treatment and
allowed Ian and Betty to share the celebration of her 94th birthday in the home on December 18.
This month on the 14th morning, Lindisfarne staff discovered that Betty had died peacefully in her sleep.
Ian hopes that meetings he has arranged for next week in Newcastle upon Tyne will lead to a date and location for the committal (private?) of his mother's cremated remains and a
subsequent funeral service in central Newcastle, probably at Brunswick Methodist Church.
Betty was a regular attender of events and monthly lunches put on by the association and by the school until ill health overtook her.
She loved taking photos and could usually be seen snapping away with her beloved camera. The news of her death is very sad, though we can take comfort from the fact that it was peaceful.
Our thoughts are with Ian, her son.
