HILDA EILEEN HAMILTON
11 January 1914 - 16th February 2003

Born Hilda Foster in 1914 in Seven Kings, Ilford, Hilda met Donald Hamilton, also from Ilford and, after three years' courtship, they married there in 1936. They moved to Bexhill straight away the same year, where Donald had started his accountancy firm Hamilton & Co shortly before and, apart from a brief spell further down the coast in Seaford to avoid the "Doodlebugs" during World War II, Bexhill was where Hilda spent the rest of her life.

Hilda had great joie de vivre and in her youth she was a very accomplished singer winning many medals in solo voice competitions. She was also a competent pianist, ballet dancer and artist and an excellent cook. She leaves many examples of her beautiful embroidery as well. Later, she became a keen gardener and on fine summer days in Cooden she could often be found out in the garden at 5:00 am. She also used to enjoy decorating the inside of the house and was meticulous in her finish --- it was no M.D.F. for her !

She had a wonderful rapport with children and after selflessly nursing her beloved Don through his long illness, she undertook voluntary work on the children's ward at the local hospital where she would read to and play with the children whose families could not visit. She loved this work and it was obviously so appreciated that the hospital managed to keep her on beyond the official retirement age of 80 !!

She was a much travelled lady and she and Don saw a great deal of the world. An intrepid traveller, she always did the driving and has probably driven across most of western Europe, South Africa and America. After Don's death she continued to travel and enjoyed a cruise in the Caribbean. Not for her though the luxuries of a super-liner --- she chose to go by banana boat ! And then, amazingly at the "youthful" age of 80, she travelled alone to Australia to visit various long lost cousins. She remembered this trip as one of the highlights of her life and declared that she'd been treated like royalty ! Not only did she fly by conventional means, she also enjoyed a spot of hot-air ballooning with her grand children!

A devoted wife and mother, she was enormously proud of her three children and she was a much loved grandmother and great grandmother.

Hilda is probably best summed up by her old friend Norman Best who, himself a sprightly 90-year old, sent an e-mail immediately on learning of her death and wrote:-
" I was very fond of your mother who was in many ways a remarkable woman, bright, intelligent, gay and full of life !"