Rae was born on the 29th of April 1927 in Morden in Surrey. She was one of four children born to Lillian and Harold Howlett along with her sisters, Judy and Paddy and her brother, John. Morden was where Rae spent her early years before the family moved to Wimbledon and then Croydon where she attended the Sacred Heart Convent with Judy and Paddy. Even in those early years Rae was known to push the boundaries and often got into trouble.
She did have a good childhood though and lived quite a carefree life although her dad was pretty strict. When she finished school Rae followed her dream of becoming a nurse and she began her SRN training at Salisbury General Hospital which was affiliated with the Mile End Hospital in London.
Being young and keen she worked hard although she didn’t always get it right. On night shift one night she decided to give all the patients false teeth a good scrub. She put them all into one bowl, cleaned them and then replaced them by the patients bedsides. She finished her shift and went home to bed but was woken and ordered to return to the hospital to sort out whose teeth were who’s!  
Through the war years Rae worked in London and she remembered the doodlebugs flying over and dropping around the hospital. She used to take cover with the patients under their beds.
In October of 1948 Rae graduated and her dad bought her a silver nursing buckle which she always cherished. After graduating Rae moved to work at the Charing Cross hospital.
In the early nineteen fifties Rae met William Hall. They hit it off and after courting for a while they married in July of 1952. Their honeymoon was spent in Devon where they visited many different places and Devon was to become a favourite destination for Rae.
Before the children came along Rae and William lived back in Morden in Surrey where Rae worked as the Senior Factory Nurse at the Marconi Radio Company but after several years the family moved to Hampshire.
Five children came along to add the next generation to this family – Susan, Wendy, Elizabeth, Belinda and finally Timothy. After eight years in Hampshire, in 1965 the family moved to Lowestoft so that Rae could be near to her parents.
Rae went back to hospital work and became the Sister in charge of the Out patients department and the Casualty department at Lowestoft Hospital. She soon settled in and she would organise Christmas parties which became infamous. Food was brought in by everyone and if it needed heating up it was put in foil in the sterilisers! Consultants came from far and wide for those parties including from Norwich!   
Rae had to keep her holiday dates secret as many of the consultants wouldn’t work with anyone else and eventually they would take the same holiday dates as Rae!
Fridays became ‘cream cake’ days and everyone brought some in, including the doctors. One day whilst eating her lunch in the dining room Rae began to cough but everyone thought that she was larking around until John, the Mortician performed the ‘Heimlich’ manoeuvre on her to dislodge the food she was choking on!
When she had time for herself Rae loved reading. She joined Lowestoft Library and never failed to take out the maximum amount of books she could. When they went on holiday the children had to hide the books for Rae from William!
She was also a member of the W.I. at Mutford and she attended their meetings every month and remained a member for many years. She joined the committee and organised outings which she researched meticulously. With William she would go out to the proposed venue, check out the best coffee shops, and the places to visit and all would be timed to perfection. The trips would inevitably end up with an afternoon tea as Rae loved cream with anything. How they ever worked is anyone’s guess though as Rae was hopeless at reading maps and navigation-much to William’s dismay as they were always going the wrong way or up the steepest hills where the car would overheat!  
As a committee member Rae was asked to represent her W.I. branch at the Royal Albert Hall in London as their speaker and she also enjoyed the occasional trip to the conferences at the NEC in Birmingham.
Rae was well travelled throughout her lifetime too. There were the family holidays with trips back to Devon but she also visited Canada where her sister, Paddy was living. Highlights included seeing Cape Cod in the USA. Later on there were trips across Europe-to Italy and France and visiting daughter, Wendy in Germany. A cruise saw Rae take in Norway with Susan and Victoria but Devon was always Rae’s favourite place.
The children grew up and went their own ways in life and in due course Rae and William became grandparents. Rae was a wonderful grandmother and of course she always had sweet treats for the grandchildren including Starbursts, mints and chocolate ‘Freddies’. Then there was her penguin shaped biscuit tin which always included other treats for everyone. It was a tradition that would continue and did so when her great grandchildren came along.
In her sixties, after twenty five years at Lowestoft Hospital, Rae took her very well-earned retirement and of course she was seen off with a great party! 
Having been such a great organiser throughout her life Rae was never going to be a lady who sat around in retirement. She was a ‘sides person’ at the local church and she joined the ‘Libraries at home’ service which later became the WRVS. That meant that she had no restriction on the amount of books she could take home!
Only twice was Rae ever heard to swear. The first was on a camping trip when, needing the toilet in the night she left the tent without a torch. After tripping for the second time over guy ropes the whole camp site hear her shout ‘Shit’! The second time was in church! She was trying to light the candles with matches but due to her Raynauds disease and the numbness it caused in her fingers she couldn’t get them to light properly. Out the word came again-‘shit’ and then the candles lit properly! 
Rae continued to help at different events including the ‘church club’ during the school holidays helping to look after the children and also the church luncheon club which no doubt included cream in some form or another. 
Sadly William passed away twenty five years ago and there was no doubt that it was a hard thing for Rae to deal with but she managed to carry on with her life, still doing as much as she could and wanted to. She remained at home and coped well with some help from the family but the last few years has seen rae suffer with her own health.
She had spells in the ‘Hotel James Paget’ and finally had to leave home. She went to stay at Britton Court for a while but then moved to Oulton Park and it was there where she would live for the rest of her life. Her room overlooked the gardens where she could see the local wildlife and plants and she loved seeing the birds coming to the bird table including robins, sparrows, pheasants and even a peacock. 
Despite the best care, on the 27th of April that long and lovely life came to a close when Rae passed away.
It was a day when some of the light went from your lives but while she may no longer be here in person, Rae is still with you. She is a part of so many wonderful memories and she always will be. She has made her place in your hearts too so wherever you are, though the memories and the place she holds she will always be with you and just a thought away. P