Early days 
Jacqueline Ruth Urwin was born in Lambeth on 2nd October 1949 the eldest daughter to Denis and Jean Urwin. 
Initially living in Chatsworth Way, West Norwood. The family moved shortly thereafter initially to Folkestone and  then to Coulsdon and Purley.  Whilst  attending Coulsdon High School, she met and became friends with Janice and Margaret, a friendship that has continue through the 6 decades. In recent years ,their bi-monthly meet-ups was something Jacky looked forward to.
 
Leaving school , she initially worked at the National Farmers Union, before training as a statistician working for Beecham's Research Laboratories based  at Brockham Park.
 
She attended Purley Baptist Church and was an active member of their youth groups and where she committed her life to following Jesus Christ .
 
She was a active member of the Purley Baptist Festival Choir, Tennis and badminton clubs.  Her father supported Crystal Palace Football Club, and she became a member at an early age accompanying him to most of the home matches.
 
Jacky enjoyed Travel and camping , Looking through her photograph albums there is evidence of having visited most of Europe over the years visiting a different country each year.
 
As she got older the trips became more adventurous  , a trip to the Holy Land  with a group from Purley Baptist followed by a camping holiday out to Yugoslavia in an old  Morris 1000 traveller  Quite an adventure in those days pre SAT NAV and open borders across Europe.  Fortunately returned intact. Colin who was also on that trip is here with us today.
 
Engagement and Marriage
So how did someone living in suburban Purley  meet her future husband whose home was in the wilds of Northern Kenya.  
 
As mentioned earlier, Jacky was an active member of Purley Baptist Church and the 20-30s group  called ‘the Fossils’  There are members of the Fossils here with us today who would be able to explain the background to this name !!!
In the summer of 1974, John, who was starting an industrial placement  with a construction company based in Croydon,.  The circumstances that resulted in John getting digs with an elderly lady who was a member of Purley Baptist can only be said to have been providential   Early on he was introduced to the Fossils and the tennis club and the other activities that the Fossils got upto then.
 
John’s placement took him abroad to Oman.  Before leaving he had made a rash promise that he would respond to any letter received , and Jacky was one of the correspondents. When responding to letters one had to be carried out carefully to ensure consistency of information as he discovered that the letters were circulated around a number of people. 
 
Whilst John was in Oman, it so happened that Jacky’s  father, was to make one of his routine visits to Oman and was asked to see if he could make contact. He thought that it would be unlikely as there were a number of British Contractors working in Oman at the time and the company he was visiting was Cypriot.  He however did mentioned to his local colleague that his daughter knew  someone working out there and enquired whether he could make contact and to his surprise his local contact knew John from the church group .  There followed an invitation to a pool party / BBQ the following week-end  , little did John  know that this person was going to be his future Father in Law,!!!!
 
John’s overseas assignment came to an end and he  returned to England to complete his  studies, He continued to attend Purley Baptist Church when ‘down south’  and in due course providentially Jacky's response to a valentine’s card  lead to a renewed friendship , Jacky's father thought that a construction engineer with intention  of working abroad was suitably qualified to be is daughters husband, and they were married a year later. 
 
Their first home was a flat between Purley and South Croydon, however soon moved to a more suitable home for building a family in Woodmansterne.  John’s work took him away from home on a number of occasions , initially to Poland , however shortly after Dan was born , an opportunity arose for John to work on a complex building  project in the centre of Cairo , on an 18 months married persons contract. Whilst John sorted out accommodation in Cairo , Jacky had the task of packing up their home in Woodmansterne , sorting out what she and a toddler would need which would go out as accompanied baggage and the two of them travelling into the unknown.
 
Egypt
Looking back this must have been a traumatic time for Jacky, who was naturally shy,  as despite all her travels , had never lived abroad, and to be bringing a toddler under one out with her  to a totally different culture and language would have been a significant challenge. Once again the Lord had paved the path for us, in that there was a thriving English speaking Christian community in Cairo that Jacky slotted into and was made to feel at home. It was just as well , as the original 18months extended to 5 half years , and during that period Kristi , born 6 weeks  premature arrived .  Jacky's placid manner  shone through accepting the challenges that subsequently transpired..  Friendships made then have lasted the passage of time , and it great to see Bishop Bill & Hillary Musk, who were out there at the time, here with us today
 
Our time in Egypt came to and end and we returned to Woodmansterne  and adapted to a completely different culture  than we had been used to.
 
Life in UK
Having been away from her career as a statistician for a number of years and initially fully occupied taking Kristi to various suitable schools, Jacky retrained as a Pre-school teacher, and worked at Jack and Jill preschool in Banstead until she reach retirement age. 
 
She was an active member of Banstead Baptist church , especially in the music ministry . The prayer triplet that she belonged to with Hilary, Angela and Chris has lasted over 35 years,  and provided support when John was away on  various work consignments. 
 
Interests
We’ve already heard that Jacky had many interests  some of which she has passed on to other members of the family
 
Sport 
As a Life long fan of Crystal Palace , originally taken along to matches with her father, her  love for Palace passed on to Dan & Kristi and the next generation , Wesley 
 
Though she did not participate, she was an avid follower of athletics, getting tickets  for the family to go to Crystal Palace stadium to watch the various athletics meetings. When the Olympics came to London , she arranged for tickets so that we could enjoy the atmosphere  and open out eyes to the Paralympics
  
She was an enthusiastic and keen tennis player. During Wimbledon fortnight, she would often pop in to see the evening sessions after work
 
As a  member of Purley Baptist Tennis Club spent Saturday afternoon playing tennis. It was a sport that she John became regular doubles partners. John at the net and Jacky providing a rock solid baseline player. When  home life became too hectic to give up Saturday afternoon she transitioned to  an hour first thing on Saturday  morning. All the year around would see her on the court, irrespective of weather, albeit sometimes it was more like Tennis on Ice, with the players wrapped up with gloves and scarf. This had to come to an end when the risk of falls and broken bones became too high.
 
She was also a member of the Purley Baptist Badminton club meeting each Monday evening a sport her father also played and one that John picked up quite quickly
 
An avid follower of Formula 1. Thank goodness for ‘catch-up’ enabling one  to record the races, when they clashed with church services. We had to make sure that the radio was switched off at home and in the car, so that we didn’t know the result .  Another interest  that passed down to Kristi
 
Holidays and travel
Holidays for Jacky were not for lazing around doing nothing but an opportunity to  see the beuty and culture of different countries.  She enjoyed travel and comping and was meticulous in planning ll the things necessary with checklist to ensure that essentials were not forgotton. 
 
Her photograph albums  include visiting, Ireland , Germany France, Denmark & Sweden, Italy  Wales, Austria Switzerland  Cyprus  Israel, and Yugoslavia , 
 
Jacky enjoyed travel and the freedom that  camping gave. John shared this same interest along with walking  with early holidays together including camping in the Scotting Highlands and Snowdonia , which obviously had to include reaching the summit of Ben Nevis and Snowdon.. 
 
During our 5 and half years in Egypt , we made the most of  the sights that the country could offer.  Looking back , in the days before Sat Nave , GPS  and mobile phones , I shudder to think of some of the safaris we took. We did not miss the opportunity to travel around Egypt from North Mediterranean coast  to  Luxor and Aswan in the south and including  crossing the Suez Canal  to visit areas of Sinai, visiting St Catherine’s  monastery  including climbing Mt Sinai twice 
 
One of the most memorable one being a trip that encompassed the Sinai peninsular  up to Rafah on the Gaza border  , along the north coast to Port Said , then continuing on through the Nile delta to Alexandria, and then onto El Alamein before returning to Cairo through the desert.   
 
Other safaris included  a three week safari travelling around Kenya  visiting places  off the normal tourist routes where John had lived in his youth ,which was dry and dusty,  and touring around part of Norway  getting to the Artic circle during the summer , great for camping as the days were longer, On that trip it rained almost constantly for the first week and we got adept at putting up the tent and packing  the car without getting everything wet
 .
More recently we had a number of holidays camping in the  Lake District until Jacky's mobility made sleeping on the floor untenable.  However with a Mobility scooter were still able to visit number of National Trust properties
 
Craftwork
Jacky like to be active when even when  relaxing watching the TV .  She enjoyed needlework,  more particularly patchwork and quilting 
 
This skill paid dividends when we were living out in Egypt, when Jacky would buy the fabric in the souk and made her own clothes which were more suitable for the climate.
 
At home she  had bags of material pieces ready to be repurposed into a patchwork ‘something’, whether it be a box, or book cover, or bag, or cushion cover, hanging tapestry or a bed covering. Many of her friends  and female members the family would get one of her creations as presents.
 
She extended her craft making skills to include 
Jewellery Making
Cards for all occasions
 
Along with Pam they formed Krafts Ladies , a club for when equally minded crafters met. To dispose of items made, having exhausted relatives,  they set up MissionCraft, selling various handmade items, cards, patchwork bags, boxes, etc at various craft fairs with the proceeds going to various mission organisations. Over the years about £5,000 was distributed from the proceeds of Mission Craft. Unfortunately the effect of MND on her fine hand control put an end to this activity.
 
Parkinsons UK
She supported the Croydon & District Branch of Parkinson’s for over 30 years originally taking her mother, who was a sufferer of the disease, along to various meetings. She joined the committee and was secretary for  nearly 18 years, publishing and distributing the quarterly newsletter ‘This &That’ to over 250 members. Even after her diagnosis with MND, she decided to continue, and was due to hand over the role at the AGM in February
 
Music
She loved music, and her playlist  on her I-pad reflected her road taste from pop,[Cliff Richards],  Eurovision,[Bucks Fizz] Musicals [ Michael Ball & Alfie Boe]  ,and though too shy to be seen on the dance floor, loved Stickly Come Dancing [ especially Anton Du Beke].  Her  most extensive playlist , however, was gospel songs both ancient and modern 
 
In her youth she had been an alto in  Purley Baptist Festival choir, On her return from Egypt, she taught herself to play the guitar and was a member of the church music group.  Her administrative skills came to the fore in preparing folders of the selected hymns for the various band members each week.
 
With the ending of the restrictions due to Covid lockdown, it became apparent that she was beginning to have difficulty with her fine motor skills especially with her hands which prevented her form being able to play the guitar 
 
MND
To try and establish the cause, and following various tests  she was diagnosed  with MND in October 2021.  We knew very little about the disease, and the prognosis was not very encouraging,  with no cure  or clear pathway to track development.  
 
Jacky  took the information calmly  and together we reminded ourselves of our wedding promise 44 years earlier. A hymn that immediately came to mind   starts with the line ‘ I do not know what lies ahead , the way I cannot see, yet one stands near to be my guide , he’ll show the way to me. Followed by  a chorus , ‘.. so as I face tomorrow with its problems large  and small I’ll trust the God of miracles give to him my all…..’  
 
Jacky was determined to remain positive , and took inspiration from the Rigby league player , Rob Burrows , who had contracted MND a couple of years earlier.   His example made her determined to live  what remained of her life as full as possible. Jacky’s past experience with Beecham Research Laboratories  felt that one way she could  help was by enrolling on a number of trials being carried out by Kings college hospital trying to find a cure , or early diagnosis , or to slow down the progression of the disease. We are very thankful for the staff there ,the local Surrey Downs NHS specialist care unit  and the local MNDA group for the care and support they provided over the past 2years
 
Whilst MND took away her ability to use her hands and feet, it did not takeaway her ability to sing and she found great solace in singing through various songs on her playlist, some of which we are singing today. Friends made adjustments to enable Jacky to participate in a number of activities, whether by having meetings on Zoom,  or visiting her  on a more regular basis . With some modification around the house and transport arrangements , she was  still able to get out to a number of group meetings and church and many have commented  in the fact that her positive attitude in the face of adversity was an inspiration to them.
 
Her passing would be just as she would have planned it peacefully at home with no fuss , although we never got round to planning it. The Lord's timing was impecable for which we give him our thanks and praise.
 
Conclusion  
To my dearest Jac
 
Though you may no longer be with us, you love continues to guide and inspire me every day.  Your presence in my life brought immense joy 
 
In Proverbs we read '... A truely good wife is the most precious treasure a man can find, her husband depends on her, and she never lets him down.... Charm can be deceiving . And beauty fades away, but a woman who honours God deserved to be praised
[ Proverbs 31: 10-11. 30 ]
 
Today I celebrate  the incredible woman you were and the profound impact you had on all who knew you
 
Thank you for the countless memories we shared, and for the love that will forever live in my heart
 
Though you may be gone , your spirit remains a constant source of comfort and strength, I find solace in knowing that your light will never fade , your love will always surround me 
 
Rest in peace with your Lord and Saviour , my beloved , until we meet again
 
Your loving husband