A devoted care giver who would go on to become the founder of a renowned dog show has died from cancer.
Felicia Sharples, known by all as Fee, died at her home in Hardingham on July 4 – nine years after her initial diagnosis.
A devoted wife to John, she has also been described as “a wonderful mother” to Edward and Sarah, and “incredible granny” to her four young grandchildren.
Lt Col John Sharples, with his wife and children, first came to Norfolk in 1993 following his retirement from the army, after a military career culminating in commanding the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards in the Gulf War.
He began life in the county running ILPH, now the World Horse Welfare, at Snetterton.
Meanwhile, Fee bought and transformed a redundant hotel in Attleborough and sold it as a flourishing concern three years later.
With Fee’s organisational skills and nursing experience, and John’s business acumen, the couple launched into the care sector.
Together they bought Shipdham Manor, between Dereham and Watton, followed by two more care homes.
Fee was as passionate about patient care as she was about the appropriate training of her staff, many of whom went on to become lifelong friends.
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But it is as founder of Norfolk’s Dog Day that she will undoubtedly be engraved in the county’s collective memory.
Concerned by the level of seriously injured soldiers returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and excited by the emerging charity Help for Heroes (H4H), in 2007 she resolved to make a difference.
She assembled a committee and the team raised nearly £250,000 for H4H over two years with two successful Norfolk Dog Days at Sennowe Park.
As her illness progressed, she continued to raise significant sums of money for charity, most recently for Cancer Research UK, Each, and Little Lifts.
She remained infinitely grateful to the oncology and palliative care teams at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, as well as Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.
Ever optimistic, ever courageous and ever looking forward, she died at home on July 5. She had been born in 1955.
A memorial service will be held in Norwich Cathedral at 2pm on Friday, October 6. Friends and former colleagues are invited to attend.
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