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Flo Heyes as guest of honour at last year’s Didsbury Festival
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Theft broke 103-year-old Flo's heart
Susannah Wright17/ 4/2008
A 103-YEAR-old woman has died just months after being robbed in her own home.
Family members say Flo Heyes was never the same after the callous attack during which her engagement ring, given to her by her late husband John, was ripped from her finger.
Flo, who lived at the Rossett Rest Home on Palatine Road, West Didsbury, passed away on Friday, April 11 after being treated at Manchester Royal Infirmary for eight days for a chest infection.
Her nephew Ken Stent, who lives on Merlewood Avenue, Levenshulme, said: "It was awful for Auntie Flo, she really went down-hill after the robbery."
Ken, 67, added: "She wasn’t really the same afterwards and it broke her heart having the ring taken."
Flo had been at home in her sheltered accommodation flat when a thief knocked on her door posing as a policeman.
He forced his way into her home and ripped the diamond ring from her finger. She had worn it everyday since she was given it by John more than 50 years ago.
No one was ever caught for the robbery.
After the incident, during which the heartless thief also stole £50 from her handbag, a benevolent bookmaker, Selwyn Demmy, came forward and offered to pay for an exact copy of the engagement ring that Flo’s husband had given to her before their wedding in 1954.
One of Flo’s nieces, Dorothy McIlwraith, said: "She tried to hide her feelings, but she was very frightened and although she was determined to be as independent as possible, she was very upset by what happened."
Dorothy, 74, from Craighall Avenue, Levenshulme, added: "She was always a lovely lady. She never complained about things and no-one ever had a bad word to say about her, and I’m going to miss her very much."
Ambulance first responder Roy Williams tried to do his bit to cheer Flo up after the robbery by making her guest of honour at last year’s Didsbury Festival.
He said: "She was a sweet lady and I think she really loved being taken out for tea. It was just nice to be able to treat her after the horrible time she had been through."
Flo was born in Withington on May 14, 1904, and went to St Paul’s Primary School. She worked at grocer’s Seymour Meads and a bakery in Withington until she was 60.
During the Second World War she did her bit for homeland defence by helping out with the Women’s Voluntary Service.
And after retiring, she carried on doing voluntary work by serving refreshments to patients and visitors at Christie and Withington Hospital, until the age of 90.
She was also a regular parishioner at St Paul’s Church on St Paul’s Road, and while John was alive, the couple lived on Copson Street.
The couple married in 1954, but had no children. John died 26 years ago after a battle with illness.
Suzie Poppit, a former nurse at Christie, who is assistant director of St Paul’s Church choir, knew Flo for 26 years.
Suzie, 57, said: "She was a fantastic lady. She had a zest for life and she was always so kind when she used to chat to the patients in hospital. She used to hold coffee mornings for years as well, to raise money for the church."
For Flo’s 100th birthday in May 2004, the Lord Mayor, Audrey Jones, went along to St Paul’s Parish Hall to help her celebrate.
Audrey - who is standing down as a Withington councillor due to ill health - has known Flo since being a teenager.
She said: "I felt really honoured to help her celebrate then because I’d known her since I was 16 and she was always such a fantastic lady. She is going to be missed by a lot of people."
Flo’s funeral service will be held at St Paul’s Church on St Paul’s Road, Withington, on Wednesday, April 23, starting at midday.
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The thief won't read this....probably doesn't care...busy looking for his next victim to feed his habit?
Sadly, the overburdened police hardly seem likely to track down the criminal...they are underresourced.
What a mess....what an utter bloody mess.
19/04/2008 at 18:45