Party for hospice and Granny Sue
“She was a born entertainer; the life and soul of the party,” remembers Alan.
WHEN 15-year-old George West was thinking of a way to honour and celebrate the life of his late Granny Sue, while at the same time helping to raise funds for the place that took such loving care of her in her last days, the answer was clear – “a party.”
She was born in Wales as Mary Elizabeth Hughes, and the name Sue was actually her stage name – “Sue Lee”, to be exact. “That’s who she was to me,” says husband Alan, who still becomes very emotional when he talks about his wife and best friend of more than 50 years.
Sue, 79, passed away in November last year at Stepping Stone Hospice’s In-Patient Unit in New Market Park after a battle with cancer. She was a wife, a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother – and by the sounds of it, a kind, easygoing, charitable bundle of life, who could party the night away and had the voice of an angel.
“She was a born entertainer; the life and soul of the party,” says Alan. “In fact, we met at a party,” he recalls. “She would come into a room and instantly fill it. She was the first one up dancing and the last to leave. I always say to people: ‘You know how to spell fun? You spell it ‘S-U-E’. We had a fabulous life together.”
For George, his gran was a close confidante. “I could always go and talk to her, for ages, about anything. She liked making jokes and would often say to me, ‘So, have you found a girlfriend yet?’ She loved life, her family, her friends and animals. Her Sunday lunches were renowned… she made the best roast potatoes.”
Alan says he will never forget the love and care that Sue received at Stepping Stone Hospice. “They were all beautiful to her. Angels is what they are.” He is especially grateful that he got to hold his wife before she died, after seeing her in so much pain that “you couldn’t even touch her before she came to Stepping Stone.”
As a thank you to Stepping Stone Hospice and a tribute to the fun-loving person Sue was, the family will be hosting ‘Granny Sue’s Opskop’ from 18:00, on Saturday, April 1, at Reading Country Club.
“Everyone is welcome,” says Alan, adding that people must expect to have a “happy time.”
There will be a sit-down dinner, entertainment and a host of lovely prizes, including a stay for nine people at a local guest farm.
Tickets cost R100 per person and can be purchased by contacting George’s mom, Raluca, on 076 119 3679. Hurry, as there are only 120 tickets up for grabs! All proceeds will go to Stepping Stone Hospice.
The family would like to thank the following sponsors for helping to make this event possible: AIDA Johannesburg South, Blue Water Pools, Bond Gallery, Bounce Digital Printers, Covenant College, GK Properties, Herbert Park Bowling Club, LG Gouveia Attorneys, Malonjeni Guest Farm, Reading Golf Club, Sonya Meistre Attorney Inc., Turning Point Pub, Urban Dynamics and 10 Out Of 10 Security.
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