Page 68 - QARANC Spring 2024

68 The Gazette QARANC Association
OBITUARY
Betty Haslam had ‘a pin-sharp mind’ and a ‘gift for social communication’
It is with great sadness that Midland Branch reports the loss of one of our oldest members, Isadora Haslam (nee Tate) who we knew as Betty.
Our former secretary Pauline Gretton, and her partner Tim, made regular visits to Betty in Cumbria whilst on their holidays, which both enjoyed. I was privileged to have very regular phone contacts with Betty where she would often quiz me on contents of the Gazette or lack of content on our part and thank us and HQ for her flowers and Covid gift and cards. Lately we had sent scented flowers to Betty, which she really appreciated, as her eyesight had deteriorated.
Our last phone call was after a short illness and she had to give up her independence, for a care home, no longer being able to manage on her own. Betty assured me she was enjoying a cooling drink in the garden and joked she was putting on weight with three meals a day! Betty was enjoying the company and care and seemed very chirpy and bright. So, I was very surprised when Betty’s daughter-in-law,
A deeply religious person, nursing was her forte, influenced partly by her elder sister Nora, who served with Red Cross
Denise Challenor, informed me of her death at age 103, which occurred on 29 July 2023.
I am grateful to Denise and nephew Ian Tulloch for their help with this obituary.
Betty was Born in Droitwich on 3 October 1918. The youngest of four siblings, she was a very inquisitive and talkative child and if her father was on the phone, she would hang onto his coat tails and chip in with his conversation. Eventually he would hold her head with one hand and tap her forehead with his forefinger to keep her quiet. She was a beloved child, and occasionally he would say, “you are too bright for your boots”.
Betty started her nursing career at Evesham in 1935 and then Cheltenham General and Eye Hospital, passing her State Final Examination in October 1939.
She joined the QAIMNS(R) in 1940, enrolling as a staff nurse, then appointed as Sister 30th January 1941, she served at the military hospital (head injuries) at Oxford before being called up in 1942, embarking for Egypt, serving at 63 and 12 general hospitals.
In 1943, Betty married Lt Leonard Challenor (RASC) in Sarafand, Egypt, and in October 1944 gave birth to their son, Peter, in Jerusalem. This was the first of four marriages which rolled down her life by unforeseen and bereavement circumstances. A deeply religious person, nursing was her forte, influenced partly by her elder sister Nora, who served with Red Cross.
By 1950, Leonard and Betty had their second child, Shirley, and Betty nursed at the Good Hope Hospital in Birmingham before becoming a qualified health education teacher in 1985. Outside nursing, Betty enjoyed gardening, cooking, travel, socialising and music.