‘You’re Mum’s kindness,generosity and caring nature was contagious and her Mermory will live on forever’
Love Lillie.
Wendy’s hairdresser.

Liliana Vernazza

A dear friend
I first met Wendy back in the 90’s in Richmond Upon Thames College, where we were both enrolled in the same course. The moment we met we clicked straight away and our conversations didn’t last minutes but hours!
One time we were at the back of the class totally absorbed in conversation and when we looked around, everyone was looking at us! The tutor, sitting on the desk with his arms crossed, said: “We were waiting for you to finish your conversation!”
I was relatively new in London and Wendy was one of my first friends. She was the most knowledgeable person I ever knew. She knew every single restaurant, art gallery, museum, street, book, film, play, movie, painting, country and so on. She was interested in everything and had great zest for life.
Most importantly she was very kind and supportive. She introduced me to places in town and we shared many fun evenings and good times. But we also spoke about personal matters and discussed life’s trials.
What I most admired in Wendy was her strength and resilience no matter what life brought to her. She was a very elegant lady and an inspiration. She is part of my foundation and the person I am today.

I’m very sad that I wasn’t able to see Wendy in the last year, due to the unusual global circumstances and my move to the countryside. We exchanged messages but didn’t get around to talk.
I shall remember Wendy with great love. May she rest in peace until we meet again.

With love.
Mila
Dorset, May 2021
PS: Attached photo taken at our wedding.

Maria Fernandes

Wendy and I first met on a significant day – 4 May 2006. We discovered that we liked numerical sequences and realised quite quickly that this was 4/5/6. Among other shared enthusiasms was an appreciation of the American psychologist, Abraham Maslow, and, in particular, his hierarchy of needs, devised in 1943.

Consider how many of his list of basic needs were areas of life in which Wendy excelled – food, drink, shelter, clothes, health, warmth and rest. Safety is proposed as the next level and she strove to make others feel secure. Then came belonging, with the emphasis on family and friends.
In the higher stages are esteem, and we can acknowledge how many people appreciated her.

At the pinnacle is self-fulfilment of which she, though always modest, was aware of her achievements. In later years Maslow proposed transcendence as a feature of something beyond oneself.

It is on this highest level that we can reflect through our powers of recall, the cherishing of memories of a fine person and a recognition that she enhanced the lives of numerous individuals. We, ready to give thanks, are the better for having known and loved her.

John Humphries

Wendy was a very kind and caring person. The makeover of my house was all masterminded by her with her knowledge and her excellent taste and, of course, her hard work.
She was also a very brave person. She had to face some difficult issues in her life and she overcame all of these and retained her positivity, her calm demeanour and her kindness for others.
Thank you Wendy for all our happy times together.
May you rest in peace.
With love, James.

James Burns

Some of our best years were spent living at west park road. Wendy was our landlady on paper, but in life she was a great friend. Even after we left Kew for Melbourne we maintained regular contact and discussed the possibility of her visiting Australia and spending some time with us. Unfortunately, however, that was never to be. We miss Wendy but our fond memories of her as a woman of elegance, energy and wonderful kindness give us solace. Dear Wendy, Rest In Peace.

Love
Chitra, Vivek, Amita and Anjali
Melbourne, May 2021

I met Wendy in the early 90’s at a vernissage in Cork Street, we were both horrified at some “conceptual art”. We left the show and disappeared into a pub to extol what we both thought was “real art” I then learnt she had her own art gallery in Kew. A friendship was struck up and we have been in touch with each other ever since.

Barry Reuter

Wendy was an unforgettable lady who I am glad I had the pleasure of knowing and spending time with. Her patience, positivity, courage, curiosity, eloquence, energy, enthusiasm, knowledge, artistic flair, style and elegance were among some of her many inspiring qualities.

I am the age of her youngest daughter and struggled to keep up with Wendy when we once had the joyous day of shopping together. Her stamina outdid mine staggeringly. She was impressive on many counts and there is much for us all to learn from her. May lovely Wendy rest in peace xx

Vanessa Pillkington

Wendy, You are a missed, trusted, enlightening, easy going and valued friend in the brief time I have known You, always devoted to your family, and inspiring and comfortable to be with.
Thank you for those happy times, encouragement and much laughter always. So Rest Peacefully Now, you will always remain a positive happy memory with me.
Iain

Iain Potter

My name is Mercedes Kelemen, I met Wendy in 2000 when we shared a flat in Norbiton.

She was ever the gracious lady of London, cosmopolitan, kind and full of life. We became close friends and over the years grew to count each other as family. She was my mentor and role model.

We nurtured our bond through distance and time, even after I moved to the United States.
Wendy, the adventurous visited me in the US on several occasions and in 2003 played the role of maid of honor at my surprise wedding in Chicago. She had the patience of a saint, strolling from one store to another to help me find the perfect outfit. Her fashion sense and finesse saved the day, without her I would most likely have gotten married in track pants and sneakers.

Wendy – like the city of London I so associate her with – had many wonderful and strong sides. I remember her dining, walking and living in London through thick and thin. She moved gracefully and elegantly skipping from conversation to cultural event (high-brow or low brow) smiling and enjoying herself while sharing proud stories of her children and later grandchildren. The Wendy so many of us knew well had flair.

What many of you may not know however is Wendy’s Dark Side. Behind the wheel of her white car Wendy became a truly epic force to reckon with. Woe betide the Londoner who took a shortcut, stole her parking spot or underestimated those keen eyes behind the wheel. Wendy driving through London in the thick of it could shake a fist and hurl insults with the finest London cabbie. She knew and loved the city and proudly defended the integrity of driving “the proper way”.

I will always remember Wendy as the one person on earth who found the secret to eternal youth. Time and the challenges of life did not leave their mark on her body or soul. I never knew her age, only that she remained youthful over our two decades long friendship.

She was a unique and fascinating rich mix of energy, ideas, culture, caring, spunk and savoir faire. I shall miss her; the world is a darker place without Wendy.

With love: Mercedes, Alexa and Nick

We met at school aged approx. 12 years and shared growing up and transforming from schoolgirls to women, much of the time laughing helplessly at what seemed to us to be the ridiculousness of everything.
Wendy was the most loyal, kind, supportive mother to her children and friends. Had a gift for lasting friendship and an incredible zest for life. Her interests included an appreciation of the Arts. She ran her own art gallery and was one of the first to feature up -and -coming young artists. Affordable art . She championed all manner of charitable causes having a deep sense of injustice for the many mistreated, neglected and forgotten people who inhabit the planet. Mistreatment of animals and toxic farming practices all earned her wrath.
Latterly, a cause that absolutely consumed her (to the extent that close family and friends were forced to tell her to shut up about it, “We know, we know -enough already!”) was Brexit. She cared about the folly of that with almost evangelical zeal!
Goodbye my dear old friend..”Here’s lookin’ at you kid!”

Linden Empson

Dearest Wendy

You leave a huge void in our lives. The pillar of our family. A master at so many things: uniquely accomplished in the spheres of art and interior design and in making any space a home, with a warmth and flair like no other. The culinary delights you took us to were legendary. And yet it was all so effortless: always pulled off with a certain élan and humour. You had a knack for making everybody feel at ease and had endless patience and tolerance. Time genuinely knew no limit in your company.

Thank you for thinking of us always, sending those splendid flowers every birthday and anniversary, forever showering the children in love and surprises! You taught me how to celebrate Christmas the Wendy way. I don’t know how we will do it again.

I was so lucky to have such a wonderfully glamorous, sophisticated, adventurous, well informed, determined spirit as a mother-in-law.

There were so many more chats to be had; so much laughter to share and politics to discuss- too much for this lifetime.

How cruel that you were taken from us just as life was beginning to open up again and we were looking forward to spending much more quality time together.

Our only consolation is that your legacy burns bright within us- we will cherish those memories for as long as we all shall live. x

Natasha Fletcher (née Gardiner)

Wendy was just the most beautiful,kind and caring person you could ever wish to meet.
I remember laughing over a glass or two at Pissarro’s,lunches at Bocconvino,tutorials at art galleries,and much more.
As with many others,I look around my house and Wendy’s expert style and taste is all around.
Wendy was one of life’s givers,nothing was too much trouble,and her extraordinary range of talents were selflessly used to help so many friends.
Thank you for sharing a wonderful selection of photographs,great memories and that radiant,flashing smile is how I will always remember Wendy.
Rest in Peace.

With love Peter and Elaine.

What I remember most about Wendy is her smile. It was a beautiful smile, often displayed. We saw a lot of her for a few years when our children were of similar ages. They seemed to connect in the way that uncritical pre-teen kids do. She was vaguely connected to my husband – his sister’s husband’s sister’s daughter. She was very attractive, very glamorous, knowledgeable in many areas, particularly the arts. She also cooked up a storm. Then sadly our paths diverged and we lost touch. But I still remember that smile.

Jenny Reynolds

Filipe and I met Wendy through a common friend and she worked with us on many house projects over the years. We always admired her wonderful personality full of energy, always marvellously positive, very friendly and patient. Wendy always had such a positive outlook on life, and had an incredible way of embracing new things and looking to the future. I will really miss our conversations about every subject going.

lots of love,
Sonia and Filipe

Wendy, for some reason I feel that you can hear me. I have known you for around 50 years, since Conrad and I were little (naughty) boys in Spencer Road playing on the road, the nearby recreation area, garden shed etc. I remember having sleepovers where Conrad and I would have a midnight feast in the shed! I am sure that you knew and thought that it was ‘boys having fun’.

I have felt very close to you and your amazing family as over the years our families kept in touch and helped each other over the good and bad times. I feel that you were my second mum. You were so kind, caring and thoughtful. Boy was I lucky to have you as my second mum!

You have brought up 3 wonderful children who bear your qualities and I will always keep in touch with them, You will always be remembered with fondness. Rest in peace.

Simon Gabe

My Mother was born on a Friday and was very proud of that because of the nursery rhyme that deals out aphorisms based on the day on which you were born. Friday’s child is loving and giving. And it’s almost as if she tried to live her life duty bound to an infant’s verse. Then there was a connection with Wendy in Peter Pan. The little girl who, unlike Peter, wants to grow up quickly and become a mother. But Wendy is a complex character.

My Mother used to tell me that the greatest love of all the different loves was the love of a mother for her child. I was too young to understand but the words stayed with me and now, looking back at her boundless, unconditional and ever present love I understand. And, when I look back, all I can remember is her working endlessly and tirelessly to provide everything a family could need. But she had so much more to give.

One day, when I was 3, my Mother picked me up from nursery school and told me she had a surprise for me at home. She asked me to shut my eyes and led me by the hand into the kitchen. I couldn’t imagine what was waiting for me. I opened my eyes and looked. There was nothing there. My Mother pointed excitedly at the far wall. “I’ve put up new wallpaper! Do you like it?” Unfortunately I didn’t appreciate the significance of this surprise at the time.

My Mother was gifted with many talents: high intelligence, epicurean interests and an artistic drive. She excelled at school, eventually becoming head girl. Her appetite for learning and doing was enormous; at various times she studied journalism, social history, psychology, photography. She even did some modelling. But her passion was for art. As soon as we children were old enough, she opened Alba Art gallery. Her superb taste and talented eye turned to finding and exhibiting various up and coming artists. And she was brilliant at hosting private views. I always invited to her my own parties where she had this ability to be the best looking, best dressed, coolest person there without actually drawing attention to herself. Everyone always remembered her and she always had something to say to everyone. As everyone here knows, she was never short of words.

Her talents and interests culminated when she became an interior designer and her decades of practising on our family homes really paid off.

But my mother once said her greatest achievement in life was her three children. Even after we became adults, if any of us needed anything she was always there. She was the first person I’d call if I had any news or just needed to talk. Even if she didn’t agree with something, she would always listen. I trusted and valued her opinion because it always came from a place of honesty.

My Mother didn’t have an easy childhood and life threw her quite a few curveballs. But no matter what happened she took away something positive. She simply didn’t harbour hate in her heart. She stayed calm, never complained, looked forwards and always kept a fine larder. And the food must be fresh, organic and largely from Waitrose.

As well as being hugely convivial, my Mother was a very private person. I suspect that each person here had their own unique relationship with her. She, like me, was a middle child of three and, although we never spoke about it, I felt that only she could understand how a middle child can feel different, often misunderstood. But I sensed she nurtured a profound spirituality that saw her through. I wish somehow we could have made her feel more special, more valued because there was and is simply no one else like her.

My Mother was Friday’s child, loving and giving, and she was Wendy Darling. She was born precocious, with some instinctive ancient wisdom already formed. But she was also Peter Pan. Quixotic, elusive, brave, with a childlike innocence and vulnerability. Her life was defined by her fine aesthetic sensibilities, her character guided by peace, gentleness, generosity and compassion. Perhaps she discovered you don’t have to give up yourself in order to give, it’s actually the best way for anyone to live.

Wendy Fletcher will be remembered as a pure and beautiful soul. I didn’t say it to her enough at the time, so I’ll say it now: Mummy, you’re the greatest.

Cosmo Fletcher