Nanny Evans of Chirk dies aged 107
The funeral of a 107-year-old, known in her home town as Nanny Evans, was being held today .
Rita Evans passed away at Chirk Court Residential Home on June 7. Her funeral was taking place at St Mary's Church, Chirk today at 1pm.
Her daughter, Marian Pearce said Mrs Evans had died in her sleep in the home, where she wanted to be
"I'm very honoured that I had my mum for more than six decades – that's what I told her grandchildren, great-grandchildren and her great-great-grandchildren.
"Her last great-great-grandson, Tommy, was born a few months ago and her oldest grandchild, Yvonne, is 64."
Mrs Evans went to work as a parlour maid when she was 14 years old. She left after two years and worked for a dentist looking after his children for three years before going back into domestic service until she got married at the age of 21.
Mrs Evans and her husband Gwyn were married in 1932 and she went to live in the Rhonda Valley with Gwyn’s family. They had two children while living in South Wales, Iris and Derek.
The family left Rhonda as the mines closed, moving to Chirk when Mr Evans secured work as a miner at Black Park Pit. They went on to have two other children, Keith and Marian. When Black Park closed, Mr Evans went to work for McAlpines. He died in 1963.
Mrs Evans moved to Chirk Green in 1964 and she made many friends enjoying regular outings to play bingo. Her commitment to working hard for her family continued and she worked for Lady Trevor at Brynkinalt Hall Estate in Chirk where all the children called Rita ‘Nanny Evans’. She finally retired when she was 72.
At the age of 97 she moved to the Chirk Court Care home
