The family of a great-grandmother who was a devoted Hull FC fan for more than 60 years are set to pay tribute to her with a themed funeral.
Chris How from Bilton was 78 when she died, leaving behind daughter Sarah, son Bob, along with grandsons Sean and Drew, granddaughter Gracie and great grandchildren, Ada and Wilbur. The retired waitress, who had worked in the city’s Royal Hotel between 1992 and 2018 and before that Fletchers bakery, was described as a massive Hull FC fan.
When she met husband John, who was a policeman, in 1963 at the age of 17 she asked him to take her to a Hull FC match as their first date. Since then until the start of Covid Chris was a season pass holder, attending with John but often standing apart, at his request, due to her impassioned outbursts of colourful language, as Ellie Lofthouse explained about her nana-in-law.
Now Ellie and Chris’ family have planned a special send off complete with a black horse drawn carriage and white horses with Hull FC blankets on them. The floral arrangements will also be in black and white, and Chris’ coffin is white. And the order of service booklets will have Hull FC coverings – all providing a nod to her longstanding support of the Super League club.
The club will also honour Chris by including her in an end-of-season memorial event to remember supporters.
(Image: Supplied by Ellie Lofthouse (granddaughter in law of Chris How). ellielofthouse29@hotmail.com)
Ellie said: “She was so social, and really outgoing and really friendly. She’d talk to anyone and would literally stop people in the street to say, ‘oh, I like your scarf’. She was never scared of embarrassing herself and she was really bubbly. You’d probably describe her as a bit crazy.”
Chris had suffered a stroke last June and for the past year had been in and out of rehabilitation units in Beverley and Hull. Her daughter Sarah, who had lived away from Hull for 15 years and was in Bournemouth at the time of the stroke, dropped everything to travel home, remaining with Chris ever since.
Ellie added: “Chris and her husband John, who was a policeman, used to go to the FC matches together but because she was that vocal and passionate about the game – obviously she’d drop a lot of swear words – so he couldn’t stand near her because with him being a policeman, he didn’t want to get in trouble.
“They used to go together but they’d stand in totally different places just because she was that passionate and a bit of hooligan!”
The funeral procession will start from John Parkin funeral directors on Salthouse Road around 1pm on Friday, July 18 before making its way to Lelley Fields Crematorium.