‘I want the town to rumble as we send her off’ - Gorleston biker mother’s son makes funeral plea
Sally Elliott, 57, from Gorleston, was a "biker chick" her whole life. She died on March 9 and her son, Mitchell Fobbester, 27, has posted a request on social media for bikers to attend the funeral. - Credit: Archant
Hundreds of bikers are set to gather in Gorleston for the funeral of a woman whose son said he wants the town to “rumble” as they send her off.
Sally Elliott, 57, from Gorleston, was a "biker chick" her whole life. She died on March 9 and her son, Mitchell Fobbester, 27, has posted a request on social media for bikers to attend the funeral. - Credit: Archant
Sally Elliott, 57, who died on Saturday (March 9) of pancreatic cancer, was a “biker chick” her whole life.
After her death, her son Mitchell Fobbester, 27, posted a request on social media for as many bikers as possible to follow the hearse as it travels from her home in Gorleston to the crematorium.
“I want the town to rumble as we send her off,” Mr Fobbester said.
Among those attending are people who remember Ms Elliott from work and the biker and heavy metal scene, and those who knew her from Great Yarmouth.
Sally Elliott, 57, from Gorleston, was a "biker chick" her whole life. She died on March 9 and her son, Mitchell Fobbester, 27, has posted a request on social media for bikers to attend the funeral. - Credit: Archant
“I hoped there to be more than 20 bikers. Now we are easily looking at 300 or 400 bikers coming. Bikers from as far as Lincoln and London, people I don’t even know. Loads of people know her from the old days,” Mr Fobbester said.
In the 1970s and 80s Ms Elliott spent time with the Norfolk biker group, The Outcasts, in Gorleston and Great Yarmouth.
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Mr Fobbester remembers a childhood of heavy metal music and tattoos.
“It was completely normal for me. They were all my family,” he said.
Sally Elliott, 57, from Gorleston, was a "biker chick" her whole life. She died on March 9 and her son, Mitchell Fobbester, 27, has posted a request on social media for bikers to attend the funeral. - Credit: Archant
He described his mother as “very kind, very caring”.
“She never wanted to be the centre of attention. For her birthday she just wanted one card from all her children.”
Mr Fobbester has two sisters and one brother.
Ms Elliott worked all her life. She was dinner lady at Wroughton Academy and then St Mary and St Peter Catholic Primary School in Gorleston.
Sally Elliott, 57, from Gorleston, was a "biker chick" her whole life. She died on March 9 and her son, Mitchell Fobbester, 27, has posted a request on social media for bikers to attend the funeral. - Credit: Archant
Later she worked as a cleaner at Poundland in Great Yarmouth.
One of Mr Fobbester’s fondest memories is from 2004 when he and his sister, Jade Beany, 29, accompanied their mother to an Iron Maiden concert in London.
“It was her dream to see them again. It was a lovely experience to share with her kids,” Mr Fobbester said.
His mother also appeared, briefly and unwittingly, in the video for the song ‘Paradise City’ by rock band Guns n’ Roses.
Sally Elliott, 57, from Gorleston, was a "biker chick" her whole life. She died on March 9 and her son, Mitchell Fobbester, 27, has posted a request on social media for bikers to attend the funeral. - Credit: Archant
She had been at the 1988 Donington Music festival when the band’s cameraman took some footage of her.
The funeral will be held on April 10 at 12.15pm at Gorleston crematorium.
