Many people have been shocked to hear of the death on 26th June of Lorna Sharpe, a popular and well respected figure in the Penrith area for many years.
She was born on 24th September, 1937, at Clonelly, near Enniskillen, in County Fermanagh, the elder of two daughters of Samuel and Alice Mills.
The family left Ireland in 1951 for Kendal, where they had a distant relative. After leaving school, she worked for the local authority at County Hall, Kendal, latterly in the welfare department.
In July, 1965, she married Cumbrian John Sharpe at Kendal and moved to Penrith, where he was based in the county police service.
In 1968 Lorna started work as a care assistant at Greengarth old people’s home in Penrith. She soon became assistant matron, and took over as its matron (later officer in charge) in 1972.
With 40 elderly residents and some 25 staff — mostly part-time — Greengarth proved to be a demanding responsibility which she accepted with unfailing enthusiasm and characteristic commitment.
At Greengarth, Lorna’s wide-ranging duties included not only the health of the residents, in liaison with health professionals, but also their welfare and happiness. This depended on the success of contact with local individuals and organisations who were always welcome to entertain the home’s residents and keep them occupied.
Lorna ran Greengarth with distinction for many years, and it was only with the greatest regret that she decided it was time to move on in 1985. Even then, she did not take a well-earned break from care work, but carried on in the same field with assignments for the local authority as required, particularly as a stand-in “officer in charge” at homes for the elderly in places like Appleby, Alston and Shap.
By the late 1990s, Lorna was directing her energies increasingly towards charitable and voluntary activities with organisations such as Penrith Inner Wheel, Penrith Hospital League of Friends and the day hospice. She was a long-term member of the congregation of St Andrew’s Church, Penrith, and regularly sat on its bereavement group.
Her favourite Penrith societies were the Tuesday Club, Ladies’ Luncheon Club and the Deaf Association, usually as a leading member where her wide experience was invaluable.
Never one to stay at home for long, Lorna travelled widely on holidays in Scotland and her native Ireland, as well as day trips to favourite places like York and the Thirsk/Helmsley area of Yorkshire.
Always a stalwart long-distance traveller, she greatly enjoyed sunny California on several memorable occasions.
She always found time for reading, especially local newspapers, crime writers such as Martina Cole and Lynda La Plante, and novels by Danielle Steel. TV found its place in her often hectic schedule, and she was especially keen on programmes about antiques such as Antiques Roadshow and Flog It.
Until recently she derived a lot of satisfaction from tending the garden at her home at Clifton.
Raised as she was in the Northern Ireland Protestant tradition, Lorna was a staunch royalist and greatly admired the late Queen Elizabeth II. She also admired Margaret Thatcher — not for her brand of politics but for her personal qualities such as decisiveness and steely resolve in adversity.
Always intensely sociable, she had a ready smile for everyone she met and rarely forgot a name. She was a “people person” who never missed an opportunity to be of service to others.
Lorna is survived by her husband, John. Their only daughter, Caroline Evans, passed away at Kings Meaburn in February, 2022, leaving her husband, Tim, and daughters Laura and Louisa, of whom Lorna was very proud.
