Dream comes true for Atherton widower

When 88-year-old, Robert Barron expressed that his biggest wish was to travel to Jersey and visit his wife’s grave, Deb Wyche, his support worker from Atherton, Belong at Home, accompanied him on a three-day trip to the island, to help fulfil his goal.
Robert had long been dreaming of paying his respects to his beloved wife Mary once again, after she passed away seven years ago and was buried in her chosen resting place of St Helier, her husband’s hometown.
Robert worked as an airline steward for the former British European Airways. He moved to America in 1956, taking the Queen Elizabeth steamboat from Southampton to New York. Upon stepping onto the ground, he met Mary, originally from America, and the rest was history, as the couple went on to marry and enjoyed more than 55 years of wedded bliss, first in the US and then in the UK, when they moved to Gloucestershire in 1980.
Robert moved to Hindley Green five years ago, to be close to members of his family, and began receiving home care support from Belong at Home Atherton earlier this year.
Working by Robert’s side since he started receiving care and discovering he wanted to visit Mary’s grave, Deb became his designated companion on his special trip to the island. After listening to many of Robert’s love stories, she offered to fly with him to St Helier to visit St Saviour Churchyard.
Robert said of the trip: “I am so grateful to Belong at Home for supporting me to visit Mary’s grave. It was my biggest wish and I am so pleased to have fulfilled it. Although it rained nearly all weekend, the sun shone down on us for that hour we were at the graveyard – it was truly surreal.”
Commenting on making Robert’s dream come true, Deb said: “It was an honour to accompany Robert on this special trip to see his wife’s grave again. Despite it being an emotional time, we had a wonderful trip. It is very much part of Belong at Home’s ethos to identify our customers’ wishes and we do the best we can to facilitate them.”
As one of the remaining survivors of the Nazi Occupation of Jersey, Robert has expressed that his next wish is to go to the 75th anniversary of the island’s liberation day next year, and alongside Deb he is planning the journey.

Pictured below L-R: Robert with Belong at Home Support Worker, Deb Wyche, and Roberts friend, Mary Horsfall



Pictured below: Robert in 1952