Former secretary and chairman of the Northern Area Texel Club Freda Cockerill has been described by her family as the ‘loving wife of David, much loved mother and sister, proud grandmother to Sam and a special friend to many who will be sadly missed’.
Freda was always active and respected in many aspects of the local rural community and the farming fraternity. She particularly enjoyed working with the farm-livestock and not least with her Texel sheep. She became a founding member of the Northern Area Texel Sheep Breeders (NATSB) in 1980. With her husband Dave, she established and maintained the Ryerigg Texel flock which became a well respected supplier of commercial and pedigree rams and a successful competitor in regional agricultural shows.
Freda has been a loyal and treasured friend in the ‘Texel community’. Among her many commitments, Freda served conscientiously as Secretary in the NATSB for seven years from 1988 and also fulfilled the role of Chairman for the two years of 1998-99. She participated eagerly and enthusiastically in many initiatives leading to improvement of Texels and along the way earned the deep respect and friendship of her colleagues in those ventures.
Invariably kind and of a cheerful disposition she will be greatly missed not only by her family, but also many friends. Suffering from lengthy illness involving cancer, Freda demonstrated both courage and fortitude. She died at the age of 73 on the 12th of September 2020. The funeral service is to take place in the Pickering Parish Church on September 29th followed afterward by interment in Lockton cemetery.
