Sisters devoted to the end

FAMILY memories . . . Ethel Cawley and Tilly Berry, pictured with their brothers Geoff, Bill and Bert

A DEVASTATED family has paid tribute to two devoted sisters from Fitton Hill who died within a day of each other.

Tilly Berry died in hospital on February 11 at the age of 91 after a stroke, while older sister, 99-year-old Ethel Cawley died the following day. Doctors believe the shock of Tilly’s death caused an aneurysm in Ethel’s stomach - which hadn’t caused her problems for six years - to fatally burst.

The sisters, who both had dementia, lived doors away from each other on Sportsmans Drive for more than 30 years and spent most of their time together.

Ethel’s daughter Barbara Tierney-Garlic, who helped care for both sisters in their later lives with her husband Ernest, said: “They were very different characters and very independent women but they were incredibly close to each other. You couldn’t imagine two sisters from the same family could be so different.

“My mum was quiet and never liked to be the centre of attention where as Tilly was very sociable and loved company. They were so different and argued every day, but they never fell out.”

The sisters, two of eight children, attended St Paul’s School and Church before working in the cotton mills.

Ethel, the eldest child, was married to James for 43 years before he died, with Barbara their only child.

She was also a grandmother of two — Keith and Paul — and great-grandmother to Giorgia and Lucy. Tilly also had a long marriage to husband Jack but didn’t have children.

Barbara (74), from Chadderton, said: “The family were always incredibly close — Tilly always said she “shared” me with my mum as she didn’t have any children of her own.

Earlier this year Tilly was hospitalised after suffering a fall at home and breaking her arm. She was taken to Limecroft Care Home for respite care while she recovered from her injuries, but suffered a stroke in her sleep and didn’t recover.

Barbara said: “She was worried Tilly would think she had forgotten about her, even after 90 years together. After Tilly died she was devastated. She said that she felt empty and didn’t know how she would cope without her. The shock was too much for her to bear.”

Their joint funeral took place at St Paul’s Church and Oldham Hollinwood Crematorium last Wednesday.