RIP Deirdre Pallister

Share your memories and stories from the Hertford Christ's Hospital School, which closed in 1985, when the two schools integrated to the Horsham site....

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englishangel
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RIP Deirdre Pallister

Post by englishangel »

I have heard from Mrs C that Deirdre Overend (Pallister) very sadly died of cancer on 17th July.

She was junior to me in 2's 69 to 76 http://www.chassociation.org/events/rev ... on2006.php

She left Hertford to become a Dr and married Mike Overend. Together they were staff at Horsham Mike as a French teacher and Deirdre in the Health Centre and I believe they have 2 sons, one an Old Blue and one a current student.

I have contacted some of people on here who I think may remember her, if I have missed anyone I can only apologise.
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Re: RIP Deirdre Pallister

Post by Pixie »

I'm very sorry to hear that. There seem to be a lot of fifty-somethings falling victim to this dreadful disease. I wonder sometimes if this is the legacy of the nuclear age.
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Re: RIP Deirdre Pallister

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Pixie wrote:I'm very sorry to hear that. There seem to be a lot of fifty-somethings falling victim to this dreadful disease. I wonder sometimes if this is the legacy of the nuclear age.

A very interesting point, and one which I now subscribe too.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki have a lot to tell the world.

Then Chenobyl, and now Japan.
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Re: RIP Deirdre Pallister

Post by jhopgood »

J.R. wrote:
Pixie wrote:I'm very sorry to hear that. There seem to be a lot of fifty-somethings falling victim to this dreadful disease. I wonder sometimes if this is the legacy of the nuclear age.

A very interesting point, and one which I now subscribe too.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki have a lot to tell the world.

Then Chenobyl, and now Japan.
Having worked (1971 - 73) with a retired RAF officer who was a slave in Japan and marched through Hiroshima when released, I have seen the effects of Radiation, as I am sure have many others. NOT NICE. But he didn't have cancer of anything that he would admit.

I subscribe to the view that we all have cancerous cells that lay dormant until activated, and that one of the main activators in this "modern" world, is stress.
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Re: RIP Deirdre Pallister

Post by Kim2s70-77 »

I am SO very sorry to hear this. Deirdre was in the year above me in 2s and I had a lot of admiration for her quiet strength. She had some very tragic experiences during her time at CH, with the death of both her mother and her sister. I did not know that she had been at Horsham. I hope the rest of her life had been less fraught. She was way too young to die. Sincere condolences to her family.
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Re: RIP Deirdre Pallister

Post by Pixie »

jhopgood wrote:
J.R. wrote:
Pixie wrote:I'm very sorry to hear that. There seem to be a lot of fifty-somethings falling victim to this dreadful disease. I wonder sometimes if this is the legacy of the nuclear age.

A very interesting point, and one which I now subscribe too.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki have a lot to tell the world.

Then Chenobyl, and now Japan.
Having worked (1971 - 73) with a retired RAF officer who was a slave in Japan and marched through Hiroshima when released, I have seen the effects of Radiation, as I am sure have many others. NOT NICE. But he didn't have cancer of anything that he would admit.

I subscribe to the view that we all have cancerous cells that lay dormant until activated, and that one of the main activators in this "modern" world, is stress.
I was thinking specifically of those of us born in the decade or so after WW2 when nuclear testing was going on with little thought for the effect on future health. My concern is that our generation may have sustained genetic damage that is only now being expressed, either in cancer rates in ourselves or genetic diseases in our children.
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Re: RIP Deirdre Pallister

Post by sejintenej »

Pixie wrote:I'm very sorry to hear that. There seem to be a lot of fifty-somethings falling victim to this dreadful disease. I wonder sometimes if this is the legacy of the nuclear age.

I was thinking specifically of those of us born in the decade or so after WW2 when nuclear testing was going on with little thought for the effect on future health. My concern is that our generation may have sustained genetic damage that is only now being expressed, either in cancer rates in ourselves or genetic diseases in our children.
[quotes from different postings]
There are umpteen ideas about cancer and its causes. It has been around for thousands of years but it is recent medical advances which have enabled it to be better diagnosed. Nuclear testing? yes. The machines shoe shops used to use to check the fitting of shoes - probably. Mobile phones - perhaps (IMHO unproven). High voltage power lines and generating equipment? likely. Cosmic rays - probably /certainly. Modern chemicals in daily use? yes (Dioxin as an example) and there are umpteen other possible / probable causes.

There is / was the theory that we all carry the virus but usually beat off the disease regularly. Very interesting were the results of pathologist's examinations carried out on old people who had died of "natural causes"; every one of them had cancer - sometimes multiple cancers which had not been diagnosed, were not the cause of death and had not caused any symptoms in life. (Such tests cannot be carried out now)
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Re: RIP Deirdre Pallister

Post by jhopgood »

Pixie wrote:
J.R. wrote:
Pixie wrote:I'm very sorry to hear that. There seem to be a lot of fifty-somethings falling victim to this dreadful disease. I wonder sometimes if this is the legacy of the nuclear age.

A very interesting point, and one which I now subscribe too.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki have a lot to tell the world.

Then Chenobyl, and now Japan.


I was thinking specifically of those of us born in the decade or so after WW2 when nuclear testing was going on with little thought for the effect on future health. My concern is that our generation may have sustained genetic damage that is only now being expressed, either in cancer rates in ourselves or genetic diseases in our children.
This http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/14250489
makes interesting reading.
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Re: RIP Deirdre Pallister

Post by sejintenej »

[quote="jhopgood" "Pixie" and "J.R."]I'm very sorry to hear that. There seem to be a lot of fifty-somethings falling victim to this dreadful disease. I wonder sometimes if this is the legacy of the nuclear age.
A very interesting point, and one which I now subscribe too.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki have a lot to tell the world.
Then Chenobyl, and now Japan.

I was thinking specifically of those of us born in the decade or so after WW2 when nuclear testing was going on with little thought for the effect on future health. My concern is that our generation may have sustained genetic damage that is only now being expressed, either in cancer rates in ourselves or genetic diseases in our children.

This http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/14250489
makes interesting reading.[/quote] (There are restrictions on how many quotes are allowed)
Even more interesting when you compare their findings with those at Christmas Island where the UK tested atomic bombs. There many species no longer existed but those which still existed exhibited extreme giganticism. Around Chernobyl most species seem to be present (may have spread from unaffected areas?) though one is exhibiting smaller brains.

When we were young they used to irradiate plant seeds in order to try to get better "hybrids" though few seeds remained viable. It has been suggested that the radioactive dust which arrived in the UK will cause at least some leukemias.
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Re: RIP Deirdre Pallister

Post by ailurophile »

I have heard from Mrs C that Deirdre Overend (Pallister) very sadly died of cancer on 17th July.
I came across this thread purely by chance while idly browsing the Forum (I hardly ever look at the Hertford Memories section, not being an OB myself). What a dreadful shock; I have met Deirdre on a number of occasions as our sons are good friends at CH. DS himself had not heard this news, and we are very saddened. Our deepest sympathy to Mike and the boys.
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Re: RIP Deirdre Pallister

Post by hughoverend »

Just come across this after all these years and want to thank you all for your kind words regarding my mum.

However, she would never forgive me if I didn't correct that she never actually worked at CH. She trained as a GP, and specialised in Breast Cancer screening, eventually reaching a family history research role at the Royal Marsden. She had a very conflicted relationship with CH, but anyone who knew her would know what hard times she went through whilst attending Hertford. We had a wonderful life living on King Edwards Road just outside the Horsham campus, and Dad worked at CH for (god I can't remember) about 26 years or so.

Was very, very special for me to find this today. Thank you all again - it's the most wonderful thing to hear nice things about Mum.
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