It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Mary Whalley nee Prendergast at the age of 95. She died peacefully in her sleep while she was a resident at Glendale Care Home in Walton-on-Thames on Wednesday 11th March 2026. 

Mary was born on 6 May 1930 in the rural village of Accony located on the Atlantic coast within County Mayo, Eire. She was the seventh child of ten. The family had a strong Catholic faith, attending Mass weekly requiring a four mile trip on horse and cart. Mary always maintained her profound Catholic faith. She had very happy memories of her childhood - except for school, an opinion shared by all her contempories! Mary loved to perform, dancing Irish jigs and reels and reciting long poems from memory until the last year.

 She moved to England in 1948 to follow her sister Bridget and start training to be a nurse, a huge step for a young women who had not travelled further than a few miles to the nearest town in the West.  She loved nursing and through it she met the Whalley family. In 1958 she married Fred Whalley a widower with six children and took on the daunting task of caring for them all, while also having two sons of her own. This was a role she was made for, a great cook and organiser. She loved welcoming the ever-growing family and friends to the family home, Penrose in Camberley. 

She was the last but one of her Prendergast family. She is survived by her two sons and four remaining step-children, 4 grandchildren and 22 step grandchildren, 2 great grandchildren and 50 step great grandchildren.