‘Gateway to Heaven’ (2001)
Vastly different in character from all the other windows at Christ Church is the striking one in the centre of the south wall which was given in memory of Susie Morris in 2001.
Susan Mary Williams was born at Epsom Hospital on 21st April 1963, the daughter of Trevor and Betty Williams. Trevor was Managing Director of Tudor Williams, the Department Store in New Malden, which had been founded by his father Tudor and his mother Nora in 1913. Tudor was one of eight children born to the congregational minister of a tiny village called Tiers Cross in Pembrokeshire and had moved to London and then New Malden to make his fortune in retail. After the First World War, the store was considerably developed and it was as his father’s health deteriorated that Trevor took over its running.
Susie went to school in Worcester Park and later Sutton High School for Girls. In October 1981, she went to Cardiff University to read Business Studies. After graduating, Susie spent a year travelling before returning home in September 1985.
She already knew John Morris from their time as students in Cardiff when they had shared a house with four others during their second year. However, it was following the wedding of mutual friends in Hull that a romantic relationship began to develop between them. From that point on, things moved fairly quickly and in March of the following year, they became engaged on a day out in Greenwich.
On 23rd August 1986, John and Susie were married at Susie’s local church of St Mary the Virgin, Cuddington in Worcester Park.
Both were 23 at the time of their wedding, although it was much to her amusement that Susie was a day older than John! The couple honeymooned in Taormina in Sicily and then lived in a one bedroom flat in Brunswick Road in Kingston. In September 1987, they moved to 134 Blagdon Road and enjoyed some carefree years of travelling and enjoying young married life.
Susie had worked in recruitment in the West End before moving on to work in the Head Office of Top Shop in Oxford Street. By the late 1980’s, she had left to join Tudor Williams, with responsibility for buying in the Haberdashery Department and involved in Fashions as well.
It was whilst they were living in Blagdon Road that Susie and John’s first child was born in September 1991 – Tudor Charles Morris.
In 1992 Susie received the devastating news that she had cancer. She was also pregnant but was assured that the cancer would most likely kill both her and the baby, if she did not have immediate surgery and chemotherapy. The couple decided to go ahead with the procedures and baby Sam’s life was finished before it had started. Susie and John named him after the book of Samuel in the Bible, which they had opened in search of inspiration and comfort.
It was out of this dark time, that Susie’s Christian faith grew deeper. The tragedy had particularly led her to a much deeper appreciation of the Bible and one of the results of this was Susie’s regular attendance at Christ Church and its midweek group, Wednesday Women. This had formed as Wednesday Wives in 1977 to study the Bible in small groups and continues today as Connections. Here Susie learnt more about her faith and gained great support and encouragement. Other members such as Anna Angell later spoke of how blessed they were by Susie’s deepening love and trust in Jesus Christ, her lack of self-pity, compassion for others and wonderful hospitality.
By the mid 1990’s, life seemed back on track. John had left his work in the City to join Tudor Williams in June 1994. The business was expanding opening its first bed and linen store in Cobham in 1997 followed by stores in Dorking and Guildford.
A daughter, Daisy Martha Morris, was born to Susie and John in January 1995.
By now, they had sold the house in Blagdon Road and, after a spell with Susie’s parents, moved into Burghley Avenue that summer. In 1996 John and Susie celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary by returning to Taormina and in November of that year, their third child, Dylan Charles Morris, was born.
In 1997 that Susie received the dreadful news that her cancer had returned. As she became physically frailer, friends said that Susie never lost her vitality for life. Despite further treatment, she died on 3rd July 1998. Susie was 35 years old. Her funeral service was taken by the Vicar, Stewart Downey and at her request, members of Wednesday Women attended in a ‘riot of colour’. At the time of her death, Tudor was 6, Daisy 3 and Dylan 1.
It was a very tough time for the family. But with the support of his parents and a wonderful nanny, Molly Roberts, John managed to carry on. Working in the family business in New Malden meant that he was able to be flexible and spend time with the children.
Following Susie’s death, her family decided that they wished for a window to be given in her memory at Christ Church. The lack of a stained glass window in the centre of the south wall made it the obvious location. Stewart Downey played a central role in selecting the artist and was particularly taken with the work of Jane Campbell, a woman of deep Christian faith from Reigate. The eventual design represented a period when artists were exploring new ways of using stained glass. Instead of the approach of earlier periods, when lead was used to put small sections in place, Jane Campbell allowed the glass to flow more and merge. The design also reflected a great deal of engagement with the context of Susie’s Christian faith but also her love of colour, movement and light.
The window was entitled ‘Gateway to Heaven’ and its design flows from the top, where heaven is depicted in gentle bluish and lilac hues, before gradually approaching earth in different tones. The resurrection is the theme and reflects the confidence Susie possessed concerning her eternal future with God with the quotation ‘Who was, and is, and is to come’ from Revelation 4.8. The glass, in some parts, was fired 32 times in a kiln in Germany to attain the graduations and allow its subtle shades to be achieved. The window attracts a great deal of attention from those who come into Christ Church and its vivid colours appear to change at different times of day.
The subsequent years for the Morris family have continued to be a mixture of deeply testing and joyful experiences. In December 2004, 13 year old Tudor was diagnosed with Stage 3 Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. The treatment involved lengthy stays in the Marsden and the children’s ward at Kingston Hospital. After two years, Tudor was given the all-clear and subsequently threw himself into work for the children’s cancer charity Momentum.
This has involved giving talks to parents and raising over £30,000 through a cycle ride from John O’Groats to Land’s End in 2010, an Ironman in 2012 and finally swimming the English Channel in 2014.
John started a new relationship with Chloe and had two further children, Poppy May Morris born in July 2007 and Felix Charles Morris born in December 2009. The relationship did not last but in 2015 John met Georgia Symonds.
Georgie’s first husband had died at the age of 50 and she had experienced similar sorrows to John. She had two children, Leila and Greg. The relationship between John and Georgie developed and they were married at Christ Church in August 2017.
At the wedding, Tudor was John’s best man, Dylan usher, Daisy, Leila and Poppy bridesmaids with Greg and Felix as pageboys.
Daisy carried on the family tradition of going to Cardiff University where she read English. She met Roy Carley on her first day at University. By 2018 Daisy and Roy were engaged with their wedding set for Easter 2019 at Christ Church.
Dylan also attended Cardiff University, where he read Geography. Susie was a keen supporter of Rugby and would have been very proud to have seen Dylan representing England under 18’s against France and Ireland in 2015.
You can listen to the sermon from the Windows on the Gospel sermon series below.
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