Family of ‘popular and funny’ Buxton woman vow to bring her ashes home

Christine Davies told how her mother Daisy Baker, 93, left Buxton to marry her fiance - an RAF man from Middlesbrough named Joseph Connor - during the war.

Daisy - who moved to Buxton as a young girl from Earl Sterndale - worked at the Palace Hotel and Potters Draper and Hosier before leaving for Teeside where she remained for the rest of her life.

However Christine, 70, says her mother‘s heart ‘was always in beautiful Buxton’ and she was well known in the area.

Her father George Baker was a quarryman and village sexton who had six other children with wife Harriet.

Christine told how Daisy died of coronavirus on April 18 at Middlesbrough’s James Cook Hospital after battling poor health in a nursing home for the last decade.

Mother-of-three Christine said after thinking ‘long and hard’ about a fitting tribute the family decided to return the grandmother-of-eight to her hometown.

She said: “We’re planning to return Daisy's ashes to Buxton once things return to normal where there will be a fitting memorial we can all visit - and also one in Middlesbrough.

“I’m sure Daisy's heart was always in beautiful Buxton and that the right thing to do for her is to return her to rest there.”

Christine described her mother - whose husband Joseph died 10 years ago - as ‘friendly and chatty’ and ‘very funny’.

She said: “She was really clever - always doing a Sudoku puzzle and she was very intuitive.

“My mum was really fun-loving - she loved ballroom dancing with my father and was always out and about.”

“But she never forgot her family in Buxton and she told me she yearned to go back many times.

“However she was torn between the family here which included her grandchildren and me and her Buxton family.

“She sometimes cried about them and was missing her hometown.”

As well as her two children, eight grandchildren and five great grandchildren Daisy leaves behind two sisters - Ivy who still lives in Buxton and Vera in Leeds.

The family would like to see her ashes buried at Buxton Cemetery once Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted.

Christine is appealing for anyone who remembers her mum - family or friends - to share their memories with her.

They can get in touch with Christine by phoning 01642 956631 or emailing [email protected].

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