LADY JOAN CAWS!
DELORIS AND I met Ian and Joan decades ago
and have enjoyed their friendship. The
four of us have spent vacations together
and also with them here in the United
States. There were times when we would
“pop over” to the Isle of Wight,
unannounced and surprise the Caws. Their
home was like our home away from home and
‘visa versa.’ We visited England perhaps
fifty or more times and the Isle of Wight
was usually on the travel route.
Checkers, or Draughts as the English call
it, was not the only thing we had in
common. The Caws, like us, were
Christians and we enjoyed discussing
religions doctrine. We attended church
services with them also. Joan was the
Women’s World Champion but she was an
English Lady who enjoyed preparing English
meals and hearing the American reaction to
them with the typical Southern drawl from
Deloris and me.
In my estimation, Joan Caws was the Lady
who opened the door for women in the world
of checkers. Looking back it would be
difficult to find a woman who had a bigger
influence on promoting checkers for women
than Joan. Ian and I were fortunate to
have wives who supported the game. Joan
enjoyed playing and Deloris’ father was a
checker enthusiast who taught me checker
strategy. She accepted my checker friends
as family and as the story states … “We
lived happily ever after.”
Joan will be missed, but never
forgotten. Many times when she was
playing checkers with me she would say,
“Crown me Charlie.” However since Joan
has been promoted to the King’s Row in
Heaven, she will not need to say it again,
because, “the Lord has “Crowned Joan” with
Eternal life!” Enjoy it Joan, you deserve it! Looking forward to seeing you again.
Don’t be surprised if I pop in
unannounced!
Enthusiastically,
Charles
LADY JOAN!
Joan was truly a proper English Lady. She
was friendly, hospitable, helpful, and
loved her family and friends. In the
Dollywood experience, Joel (grandson) and
Paula, his mother, among many others,
traveled with us to Dollywood. That was
an experience! Joel was excited about
everything – and Ian and Joan enjoyed
having him and his mom with them. I
remember that they really enjoyed the
trips to Walmart!
There were many times we traveled together
– to Scotland – to Italy – to Ireland - to
their mainland and we saw a lot of things
– they pointed out interesting places
along the way. We enjoyed many outings –
picnics on the grassy hills; the “haunted
forest” on the Isle of Wight; the English
tournaments around the area, and many
other interesting historical sights around
London and the countryside.
Once we went over to England – rented a
car and went down to Portsmouth to the
ferry and over to the Isle of Wight. We
didn’t call or notify the Caws – checked
into our hotel and then went over to the
Caws’ home with the intention of inviting
them out to dinner but they were not at
home – they did arrive and we learned that
Ian’s mother had passed away. We did take
them to dinner and remained in Ryde for
several days, during which time we
attended the funeral services for his
mother, and got snowed in (yes, on the
Isle of Wight!).
Joan was an excellent hostess – she was a
wonderful cook and we ate many meals with
them (Charles especially liked the lamb)
at their home and around the
countryside. We had tea and biscuits with
them; ate apples from their trees in the
garden, just to name a few of our visits
together.
To the family and friends of Joan, I pray
you will be comforted during this time and
that you will all look to the day when you
shall be together again. Heaven is a
glorious eternal place of joy.
Sincerely,
Deloris Walker