A WOMAN who charted her life, for herself and for others, has died.
Hazel Wheeler was just 14 when she found an empty diary in the attic of her parents’ shop in Deighton in 1941 and decided to keep a record of her life.
Now she has passed away at the age of 82, having kept that diary for every day of the past 68 years.
Mrs Wheeler died on Saturday in hospital in Ashford, Kent, after a short illness.
Her death was unexpected and was a shock to both of her daughters, Caroline and Elizabeth.
Although she had lived for the last two years in Canterbury to be near family, her heart was definitely where her roots were in Huddersfield.
Her father had owned a shop, and Hazel grew up, married a local man, had her family, and was that much a local girl, that she never even once went abroad, choosing instead to stay in her beloved Yorkshire.
She spent most of her life married to Granville who passed away in 1999, and her funeral will be held in Huddersfield. It will be a cremation at Huddersfield Crematorium at 12noon on Friday September 25..
It is said most people can remember what they were doing when they heard JFK was shot – but Mrs Wheeler could have told you if it was sunny and what she ate for tea.
She could also tell you that when the Second World War ended she went to the theatre, that she spent £1 (in old money) on paint in 1953, and that during the 9/11 terror attacks she baked macaroons.
Every detail of her life – from earth-shattering events to personal concerns – was faithfully committed to paper.
She said: “It was the first diary I’d seen, dated 1936, and I was fascinated by the idea. I altered the dates to 1941 and started recording daily happenings.
“Writing in my diary became as important as cleaning my teeth. I’d write down what I’d said and done, what I felt, love affairs, prices, world events, everything.
“I wanted to make sure I could always remember what happened every day of every year of my life”.
Her diaries filled an entire bookcase of her flat in Canterbury.
She and her husband Granville had two daughters, Elizabeth, 54, and Caroline, 52, and three grandchildren. Mr Wheeler died from lung cancer in 1999.
Many extracts from her diaries were featured in the Examiner and in many other newspapers.
Two years ago, she also became a radio star when her diaries were adapted for the BBC Radio 4 programme Writing The Century and were serialised.
It was not be the first time her work has been adapted for the airwaves. In 1953, Hazel appeared on Woman’s Hour reading her diaries about working as a Post Office casual at Christmas.
Some of her work was put into print and two of her books, Living on Tick and Milner’s Apprentice, were reprinted last year.
