Tribute paid to Brighton's Ida Dicker who has died at 102

Ida Winifred Dicker passed away peacefully in her sleep on June 30 in Woodingdean at the age of 102.

Ida, who was originally from Gillingham in Kent, was the eldest of five to parents Florence and Alfred Baker.

As a teenager she worked in WH Smiths and Sons and loved going to dances with her cousin Pat.

Ida as a teenager with her dog (Image: The Dicker family)

At one dance during the Second World War she met her future husband Ken.

A few men asked her to dance but she refused until the handsome young Royal Marine approached her.

“She said the minute their eyes met she knew he was the man she was going to marry and spend the rest of her life with,” said granddaughter Tina Daniels, who works for The Argus.

Ken kept in contact by writing letters from wherever he was stationed, although Ida’s father never passed these letters to her.

They reunited a year later and started dating.

During one date, they were walking down Gillingham High Street when overhead they heard a Luftwaffe plane diving down towards them.

Ida and Ken on their wedding day (Image: The Dicker family)

Ken put Ida quickly on the crossbar of his bicycle and pedalled as fast as he could down the high street, then he heard the aircraft open machine gun fire, he threw Ida into a shop doorway then threw himself on top of her.

Ida and Ken’s song was ‘When Love Walked In’ by Ella Fitzgerald, which they often waltzed to.

They married in May 1941 only three months after Ken was injured onboard the HMS Southampton when it was hit and sunk by two bombs off the coast of Malta. Ken was knocked unconscious, and his life was saved by his good friend Edward.

In 1944, while stationed at Deal in Kent, Ida gave birth to their only child, at the Royal Marines Hospital.

The day Tony was born Ken was meant to be on duty but got called away due to Ida being in labour.

His position was taken over by a friend who died when the gun emplacement was hit and wiped out.

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Their next family move in the 50s was to Warrington when Ken was invalided out of the service and had joined the NSPCC.

Ida did a great deal of charity work (Image: The Dicker family)

Ida found being away from her family difficult and lonely, so she applied for a job in a clothes shop which was where she met her friend Ginger.

Ginger and Ida remained friends for many years until Ginger died in Eastbourne a few years back.

The family moved again to Southampton before settling in Hythe Road in Brighton in 1956.

It was then that Ida started working for a toy warehouse in the city.

A proud achievement of Ida and Ken’s was that while in Brighton they started The Argus Christmas Appeal along with Anne Nightingale and Gordon Thomas.

They arranged Christmas parties for under-privileged families ensuring all children received a gift.

By 1961, Ken and Ida moved to South Croydon to be close to Ida’s family.

In Croydon, Ida and Ken ran the Croydon District Polio Fellowship where they would look after the welfare of polio victims by taking them on holidays, fundraising, holding weekly events and dances.

Ida with Dame Vera Lynn (Image: The Dicker family)

In their spare time Ken and Ida loved going on trips in their caravan and went on many weekends away with Ida’s little sister Hilda and her husband Norman.

In 1966 Tony married Gill and the couple had Steven and Tina.

Tina said a special memory of her grandparents was the excitement on Christmas Eve and spending the period together as well as enjoying Gill’s “fabulous” dinner.

She also remembered being packed like sardines into her grandparents’ little red Toyota on holiday to the South of France.

In 1987 Ida and Ken moved to a bungalow in Newhaven.

Time passed and great-grandchildren Luke, Sophie and Ollie were added to the family.

Ida with Teddy (Image: The Dicker family)

Then came along great-great-grandson Teddy who Ida referred to as “my baby”.

Ida celebrated her 100th birthday on September 13, 2020, at a party at the Abergavenny Arms, Rodmell, near Lewes and received a birthday card from the Queen.

“Even at the age of 100, Ida was still sharp witted,” said Tina.

After her 100th birthday, Ida went on to live in her bungalow for a further year being supported by her neighbours Roy and Maria.

Following a spell in hospital last year, Ida was then re-homed in Dean Wood Care Home in Woodingdean, due to her immobility and onset of the later stages of dementia, where she was cared for by Kirsten, Matilda, Jibin, Beth, Demi and many others.

“Ida is now reunited with the love of her life, Ken, missing him for the last 34 years. They are dancing the waltz together again,” said Tina.

Ida's funeral is taking place today at The Downs Crematorium in Brighton.