Person Page 391

Marie-Louise was the middle child of Charlie and Jean Meredith and she shared her birthday with her older sister Roz (b. 1949) and a nephew who was born in 1984.

Her early childhood homes were in The Lane, Aynhoe in Northamptonshire and The Red Lion pub in Bloxham, Banbury. The pub was idyllic, it had a large garden, outbuildings and a brook that the children loved playing in. They used to build dams in the brook and try to creep back into the house soaking wet - hoping that Mum wouldn’t notice! Marie-Louise had various pets, including 2 guinea pigs called Pixie & Dixie.

Marie-Louise attended St John’s Primary School then Blessed George Napier School, in Banbury. She was the May Queen in 1964.

She always worked hard and had a series of Saturday and part-time jobs until she started working full-time. These included working on market stalls, waitressing and chamber-maiding at The Whately Hall Hotel, Banbury.

Whilst she was not particularly academic she excelled in being highly organised and efficient. These attributes earned her recognition and an award at college in the form of a trip to France. It was shortly after this she decided to live in France and she worked as an au pair with a family in Marseille. Marie-Louise became fluent in French and was excellent at mimicking a variety of accents.

When she first returned to the UK from France she worked in The Manor House Hotel in Moreton in Marsh, Gloucestershire. Whilst there she thought it would be fun to apply for a job as an air hostess and so began her career with Britannia Airways. Her organisational skills came to the fore! She travelled widely, enjoyed several promotions and trained many new starters. It was at Britannia Airways that she met Angus Mundie, a pilot, and they were married in St John’s Church, Banbury on 25th Feb 1978. They were based at Luton Airport and lived in various places in and around Bedfordshire. Marie-Louise only left work when she was expecting her first child who was born in 1982.

In 1984 Angus’s job provided the opportunity for the family to live in Brunei and the 3 of them lived out there for almost 2 years. Marie-Louise was not known for her love of sport, however, when she lived there she organised runs through the jungle, these were called “hashes” and involved following bits of paper, like a wild treasure hunt. She won a cup for completing 50 runs! They travelled extensively while they were there: Hong Kong, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Australia.

The family returned to the UK and lived at 8 Bedford Avenue, Silsoe where her son was born in 1987.

In the early 1990s, Angus’s job brought them to Scotland and after first living in the West End of Glasgow they settled in Helensburgh in a large Victorian house called Windy Edge on Woodend Street. It was here that Marie-Louise took up a new craft of quilting and soon became very good, displaying her quilts, organising workshops and introducing others to quilting.

The family continued to travel and holidayed in Spain, France, Majorca, Greece and Portugal. Following Angus’s death in 2003, she and the children went to stay with friends in South Africa for Christmas, Marie-Louise and her son also visited Tyree, which she loved, especially the local pottery. She also visited Dublin with her sister Jacky.

Marie-Louise was extremely kind, organised and had a great sense of humour and fun which she retained right up until the end. Whilst it is sad that Marie-Louise died relatively young it’s true to say that she certainly packed a lot into those years and lived her life to the full!

She was the daughter of Joseph Alfred Taylor and Matilda Bonner.