Tribute to ex-Hull hairdresser with a 'mega-watt smile'

A HAIRDRESSER who turned heads in her home city of Hull more than 40 years ago with her iconic salon, vivacious lifestyle and passion for pink has sadly died in her adopted home of Vancouver.

- By DEBORAH HALL

Fiona Tunnicliffe, known to all as Fifi, remained a party girl to the end, reports her friend and former flatmate, Sue Mott. Fifi, who was 65 when she died on April 28, was the daughter of Sylvia and Jim Tunnicliffe and attended Kelvin Hall Secondary School in the city.

Hairdressing became her passion from an early age. She was working in salons in Hull when she was just ten and was trained to the highest standards by Glemby International in Hull, remaining a close friend of their colour specialist, Sheila Budd.

By the age of 19, Fifi had her own salon, Curl Up and Dye, in Salisbury Street. Fifi married in her early twenties and went to live in Saudi Arabia with her husband who worked for a construction-based business; she also inherited two much-loved stepsons with the relationship.

After the marriage failed, Fifi returned to Hull to open another salon and then set up in her own home in Welton.

A tribute posted on Arbor Memorial shows she was still delivering perfection for clients in Vancouver two weeks before her death. The same tribute noted: “Although I never went out with her, you could just tell she was a party animal!”