Shocked customers have been paying tributes to a much-loved Post Office manager who has died suddenly.
Debbie Kaur, Post Office manager at Central Convenience stores, Hurst, died, aged 60, after being taken ill unexpectedly at her Shinfield home on Sunday. Paramedics called to the house were unable to revive her.
This week bunches of flowers in her memory were laid at the Post Office door and more than 100 customers have made glowing tributes on social media.
It was clear to customers that Debbie loved her work.
One told Wokingham.Today: “She loved the village and seeing the customers who came in and out all day.
“She insisted on making sure there was time to do things properly.
“If someone was having trouble with their payment card, she didn’t rush them through.
“People shared their troubles with her. You’d often see her having a heart-to-heart with someone, consoling them or giving them a hug.
“Her death is such a shock, there’s complete bewilderment about it.”
Debbie took over the shop and Post Office with Jit Sandhu in 2004. When the business was sold in 2012, Debbie stayed to be the office manager.
Current store manager Jayne Overington said: “She will be greatly missed, she was a lovely, helpful lady.
“The whole village is in shock.
“People came here a long way because of the service she gave.”
She said the PO would be closed as a mark of respect this week. It was hoped to reopen next week.
Hurst’s Wokingham Borough councillor Wayne Smith said: “On behalf of the village I want to say what sterling service Debbie gave Hurst and surrounding areas.
“She was a very caring, lovely lady.
“During this period [of coronavirus] she kept the service going throughout.”
And Susan Jackson, from Wokingham In Need, had used the Post Office specifically because of Debbie.
“She has been so wonderful to WIN. She was a pleasure to know.”
Her funeral, organised by AB Walker of Reading, will be on Tuesday, August 18. Coronavirus regulations mean numbers attending will be restricted.
Details of how to watch on the internet will be at the shop and on the Hurst Residents Coronavirus Action Group Facebook page.
Donations in Debbie’s memory are invited for the charity Age UK. Early on she worked as a care worker in a care home, later moving into retail.
Debbie leaves her partner Stephen Morton, who runs a business at Waltham St Lawrence, and her son Sachdev Sandhu, 38, who works at PepsiCo, Reading.
Her daughter Salvinder Sandhu died some years ago.
Debbie’s family, originally from Punjab, moved to Leicester and later, Reading.
Hurst lost another much-respected part of its shops community when butcher, David Jennings, died suddenly, aged 57, in October 2016.
