Shropshire Star

Tributes paid to 'selfless' Telford mum, 48

The heartbroken family of a "caring and selfless" mum who died suddenly after a haemorrhage on the brain have paid tribute to her.

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Michelle Marston

Michelle Marston, of Telford, known to her family and many in the community as 'Momma Shell', was found in her bed by her 18-year-old daughter Elle Bailey on the morning of October 30.

Just hours before Elle and her older sister Charly had been laughing and joking with their mum at their Woodside home.

"The last thing I said was goodnight, I love you, and I went to bed," said Elle.

The mother-of-five, who was 48, was well known in her community, and her family say her chicken and stews were famous in the the area.

"Everyone who came in the house would say 'your mum would always shove a spoon in my mouth when I came through the door'," said Elle. "The house was always busy. People would say 'it's four o'clock, let's go see Shell'.

"At tea time there would always be five different plates on the side for different people as well as the family. At Christmas there would be a couple of homeless people invited for dinner. Mum didn't care, she always wanted people to come in and feel comfortable."

Michelle lived for her children Alex, Elle, Natasha, Declan and Charly, as well as her grandchildren Jamie-Leigh, Evie-Michelle, Phoebe, Ali and Kaius.

Travels

"She held the family together," said her daughter Alex, 19. "She was a bit of a clown and loved to entertain. Vodka and coke was her signature drink and she would hold parties, and they would become street parties for the community."

Alex had received a text from Michelle the day before she died saying how proud she was of the theatre student who now lives and studies in Manchester.

"I don't know if she knew she was going to go," she said. "But she had so much planned and was looking forward to the future."

Michelle, who was Scottish by birth, had never travelled abroad before and had been making plans to visit Europe with her best friend.

"She was not only my mum, she acted as a mum to everyone," said Alex. "She helped, changed and inspired a huge amount of people’s lives. She shared that rare quality of selflessness. She was always willing to lend an ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on or a friend to be there without expecting anything in return. She was the light in many peoples otherwise dark lives and she will forever be with us in spirit."

The family raised more than £3,000 on Facebook just days after announcing Michelle had died, which has paid for her funeral in Telford where more 300 people were expected to turn out and pay their respects. The service was to include bagpipes playing Flower of Scotland, which she would listen to every morning in tribute to her own mum Betty.

"We as a family would really like to thank everybody who made donations," said Alex.

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