We are sad to announce that Meryl Sidoli has passed away after a short battle with cancer.
Meryl was born to Doris and David Connick in Mountain Ash in 1956. An only child, her father passed away when she was just five years old and she grew up in Abercynon with her mother and grandmother, Sarah.
She attended Mountain Ash Comprehensive School, where she was voted by her classmates to be both Miss Form Two, and Miss Form Three, and in 1970 she was Carnival Queen at the Mountain Ash Carnival.
Meryl first met her future husband, John (then known as Johnny), in Carpanini’s café in Abercynon. The young couple got to know each other and began courting. John would regularly visit Meryl at home in Abercynon, before catch the last bus home to Ystrad Mynach at 10pm; there was much relief when John passed his driving test and could drive himself back and forth! Meryl would also visit John at the café in Ystrad Mynach. Café work was a novelty to Meryl at this time so if she visited on a Sunday she would offer to help behind the counter; this inevitably led to her becoming friendly with many of the regular customers.
A determined and hardworking girl, at 16 Meryl left school and began her role as a student nurse at Church Village Hospital. The friends she made there became her life-long friends. In later life, despite juggling busy work schedules and family life, ‘the girls’ always made time to meet up, especially for their annual winter holiday. Their holidays would see them travel all over Europe, as well as trips to Iceland, and America.
In 1974, Meryl and John married. She left her role at the hospital and moved to Ystrad Mynach, joining John (and his parents, Bruno and Rina) in the cafe. Their honeymoon was spend in Cogno, near Bardi – it was Meryl’s first time in Italy, although she would go on to think of it as a home from home!
Growing up an only child meant Meryl missed having siblings, she therefore always wanted four children; two boys, and two girls. Shortly after they married Meryl and John welcomed their first child, David, who was followed by Dina, Daniel, and Delucia. In 2014 Meryl became a very proud granny to Max, a role she embraced wholeheartedly.
Having married into an Italian family, Meryl took to her new role admirably… Not being a Catholic herself she nonetheless agreed to raise her children in the Catholic faith, attending mass and reading in church for their first holy communions. She also happily learned to cook Italian food, and speak some Italian. Family summer holidays were always spent in Italy, where John’s sister, Franca, and her family lived in the house next door to John and Meryl. Meryl loved nothing more than sunning herself on a lounger while sipping local fizzy red wine, while John would spend time doing DIY around the house. John and Meryl spent their final happy time together in Bardi in Spring 2017, when they attended the confirmation of their nephew Luca, and the first holy communion of their niece Francesca.
This idea of Meryl sunning herself while supervising John and his DIY actually fits quite well with the roles Meryl and John took to for most of their married life; Meryl was the brains; the ideas person, project managing and pushing things forward, while John was the brawn; he was the worker with the skills to make the ideas a reality. They were a team whose skills complimented each other, and together there were very few projects they couldn’t complete. That being said, Meryl wasn’t afraid to get stuck in when she needed to.
Whilst John may be good at DIY, Meryl had her creative site too; she was a fantastic seamstress who made her own clothes growing up, as well as customising pieces for John when they were first a couple. Later Meryl would sometimes make the children clothes for a special occasions; Dina and Delucia wore the same handmade first communion dress – based on Lady Diana’s wedding dress! Meryl liked to remind them (as they rolled their eyes) how she’d sewn all the tiny pearls on one by one, by hand!
Meryl believed in supporting her family, working to provide a good life for her children. Throughout the 1980’s this meant working until 10pm at night in the café (and often at weekends), all the while also managing a hair salon next door. In the early 1990s the café began closing on Sundays, giving John and Meryl the opportunity to do one of the things they loved – going to car boot sales (they love a bargain!). As well as that, they would spend many a Sunday visiting beautiful gardens and stately homes around the country, while more recently spending weekends away together in the UK. By the time of her retirement in 2017, Meryl had clocked up an admirable 44 years’ service which was recognised by the fellow tradesman in Ystrad Mynach who presented Meryl and John with a very thoughtful piece of engraved glassware.
Despite protests that she was fed up working in the café for so long, after Meryl was diagnosed with cancer in 2017 and the café closed, she would often mention how she missed the shop, and seeing the customer’s everyday – especially the many regulars who were much more friends than customers. The brief period of retirement however did provided her much more free time in-between treatments. During this period the family noticeably spent more time together, whether that be simple family meals at home, or day trips away. Meryl wanted to fit as much as possible into limited time she had remaining, and this meant spending as much quality time as possible with those who meant the most to her. As news of her illness travelled around, she was continuously touched by the kind gestures of others, whether that be visits from friends, or the frequent gifts of flowers she would receive.
A look at Meryl’s life
