Dear All,
I was idly googling Ionic yesterday, after finding a number of Ionic memorabilia in our house, and stumbled across this forum. What a wonderful find for me, full of so many treasures! My grandfather was Bert Wallbank, although I never met him, and my father was the youngest of his children. Sadly, my father also died too young, at the age of 57 in 2010, from an industrial illness. Bert's wife, Mary, lived to the age of nearly 101 and was the kindest, wittiest, most sensible woman I could ever have imagined knowing, and a fantastic artist. I am, I suppose, a bit biased, but she certainly made an impact on everyone she met in a quiet understated way. She died with 3 children still living, 14 grandchildren and a whole horde of small great-grandchildren - a true matriarch! She was deeply loved.
I am so pleased to see that Bert was respected by his staff (you can never be sure when you know someone was the Boss!) and that you all had such a riotous time! I'm quite jealous, I think I need to go out and start living...!
Thank you so much for your memories,
R Wallbank