From Alvin Wallace (cousin)
Firstly, my condolences to Oliver, Andrew Racheal, and their family members from myself and the Wallace family. Also, to thank the family and friends who have supported them in this sad time.
Aunt Claire (Verna) was a woman of great substance who was full of energy, and laughter and was very much a matriarchal figure to her family, friends, and extended family members. On meeting her, she was someone who was not easily forgettable. She was very much a woman ahead of her time in thinking and creativity. I believe if she had been born in the present time, she would have achieved even greater things.
My cherished memories of her are so many, of joy and laughter and I would like to share a few of these memories; -
My mother (Daisy) and siblings would often visit her when she lived in Bethnal Green, and later when the family moved to Wembley.
Whenever she and my mother (Daisy) got together, they were like two adolescent schoolgirls laughing and talking about food, music, fashion, and when they were growing up in Jamaica.
She loved to cook and bake various cakes. She was renowned for her homemade patties, jerk pork and homemade pickled pepper sauce which if you ever had the pleasure of tasting, then no further explanation is needed.
She was an aunt who seemed unshockable; in fact, it was often the other way around in that she would say a one-liner or joke that would leave me in fits of laughter, and thinking, did I really hear Aunty correctly LOL. As I said, she loved to laugh and had a wicked sense of humor.
Aunt Claire loved to dance, and I remember her at countless family functions as always being the first one to be on the dance floor; she was not shy about coming forward. She appreciated all types of music, from reggae, soul, and the blues, and had the moves to match. When she was not on the dance floor, she would be in the kitchen helping out. She was the type of person who was always willing to help,
My mother, I, my siblings, nieces, and nephews (two generations) have known Aunty Claire most of our childhood and adult life as an aunty, a mother figure and it is hard to believe she is no longer with us
Aunty, you were much loved and will be equally missed.
Alvin Wallace
03/09/2023
