We are sorry to announce the passing of Joan Bowley, who died peacefully on on 26th October.

She was a long term member of the club and along with her husband, Geoff, helped with the transfer of the club from Muswell Hill. 

She was always a popular partner and enjoyed her bridge as well as all the many other aspects of her life. In more recent years after the death of Geoff her focus was more on her new partner and her children and grandchildren and she came to the club less often. Despite this I’m sure many will remember her cheerful and friendly approach to both the game and all the members of the club.

She will be missed. 

We are very sorry to announce the death of our long term member Anne Tovee on Thursday, 15th of December. She will be greatly missed by all club members, many of whom were her partners at bridge over the years. The photo shows Anne with many of them when she was part of an EDBC team winning the Middlesex Teams of 8 competition in 2015.  

Anne was a very active member within the club, acting as both president (2007-10) and secretary (2013-2019).  She was someone who did much unrecognised work behind the scenes; it was only after she retired as secretary due to ill health that we fully appreciated how much she did. She has been enormously missed since her health meant she was no longer able to play.

Anne also spent a large part of her life teaching bridge and it is largely due to her that there are so many bridge players of all levels in Enfield. 

We send our condolences to her husband Dave and her two children all of whom she was very proud of. 
 

Marie Hollingworth, long term memeber of EDBC, passed away peacefully on Sunday 8th May.  Details of her funeral were circulated to members.

The committee sent condolences to all family and friends.

Although you will know Tu (as she preferred to be known) through your encounters at the bridge table, it is her open friendliness and cheerful disposition that will first come to mind, and she was universally popular wherever she played. Tu came to bridge relatively late but worked hard to master the game in the same determined way that she had made a success of her life through countless trials and hardships, and her results over the years demonstrate her excellent progress. Although she would often say that bridge for her was about socializing and meeting friends, there was a strong competitive spirit behind that lovely smile.

Tu was born in Shanghai, but unfortunately her dreams of being a doctor were thwarted by the Cultural Revolution and she became part of China’s lost generation – Tu said that the book “Wild Swans” is a parallel of her early life. She came from a family that was considered bourgeois and so was sent to a communal farm in Mongolia as a teenager. She was later moved to the computer department of a very large automobile works in North China, and despite coming 6th in North China in university entrance examinations was unable to gain a place to study but eventually was able to secure a position in foreign affairs at Beijing University looking after visiting academics. It was through one of these contacts that she was offered a scholarship at Glasgow University, and in late 1989 arrived in Scotland with just $200 in her pocket. After graduating and also achieving a Masters in Business Studies she came to London, and through a chance conversation while working in a Chinese takeaway was offered a trial in the office of a construction company. In true Tu fashion, her dedication and thorough application led to her working her way up to running the company when the owner retired, and when he sold the company she used the expertise acquired to establish her own successful business.

Tu was always proud of her Chinese heritage, but also loved her adopted new home and appreciated the opportunities it provided. We extend our condolences to her two sisters and brother who live in Shanghai and who will be devastated at the loss of their “Xiao Mei” – little sister.

Ernie lived a full life, from his birth and early life in Hong Kong, his working life in London as an electrical engineer for the LEB, to his retirement and later life filled with his love of bridge, golf, friends and family. We will miss him and remember him fondly.