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Marlene’s dying wish...a birthday party, not a wake

Susannah Wright
28/ 2/2008

Marlene Mullaly-Rowe never lived to see her 62nd birthday.

Sadly her life was cut short by a fatal illness just days before the landmark.

But she was determined that her friends wouldn’t miss out on a party. So she told them that instead of having a wake, they should have a knees up to celebrate her birthday. Around 50 people attended the celebration at the Lloyds Hotel in Chorlton. They sang happy birthday and celebrated her life.

Marlene, who lived on Demesne Road, Whalley Range, died of emphysema on February 11. Sally Taylor was one of Marlene’s friends and she organised the celebration at the Lloyds Hotel on Wilbraham Road, Chorlton.

She said: "The atmosphere was lovely. We sang happy birthday to Marlene at the beginning and we reminisced with happy stories about her.

"Although it was upsetting to be burying a friend, it was a celebration of her life rather than a sad occasion and it was exactly what she would have wanted."

She added: "She’d been in hospital shortly before she died and she told me she didn’t want a wake with tears and grief, she wanted us to laugh and have a good time."

Marlene was born in Gorton on February 25, 1946, the only child to Dennie and Maurice Mullaly. She went to Broughton High School and was academically bright and excelled at athletics, winning medals for the school. She also loved music, dancing and art.

When she was 14, her mother remarried and Marlene changed her surname to include that of her step-father, Frank Rowe. She never married, but has one relative, step-aunt, Dorothy Rowe, 83.

As a young woman, Marlene developed an entrepreneurial streak, selling imported Afghan coats from India in the 1960s.

In 1973 she qualified as an art teacher and took up a post at Broadoak High School in Partington, later also taking on the role of careers advisor. It was there that Marlene met Sally - an RE teacher - in 1975, and the two remained firm friends.

Sally, 54, who lives in Altrincham, said: "Our birthdays were only a week apart so we always used to go out and celebrate together. It was sad that I couldn’t do that this year, but the party for her at the Lloyds made up for it."

Marlene loved to travel, and in the 1970s she met a man on a visit to Malta, Sonny Micallef. The pair became engaged and sent many love letters to each other. But Sonny contracted leukemia and died in March 1979. Marlene was also fond of Italy, having visited Rome several times, and she loved watching Italian football.

Sally remembers her friend skiving from a departmental meeting after school one afternoon a few years ago, to see the Italian national team play at Old Trafford.

"She was really worried that the cameras at the ground might see her and that she’d get into trouble with the head."

Marlene loved aspects of many different cultures, including Judaism and Islam. She particularly enjoyed reggae music, and helped manage a Manchester-based band, Asewe. The band, led by Abina JV Likoya, played at the party.

Sally said: "Marlene had the ability to get on with everyone, no matter what their background. She was a lovely woman and we will all miss her a lot."