Dad - Eulogy (by Andrew)
Created by Sandra 9 years ago
As a young boy Dad spent a great deal of time at his Grandparents bakery and shop.
He didn’t follow in their footsteps instead chose to embark on a career in engineering.
He went to Salford Technical College where he met his good friend George. George recalls their apprentiship with Metropolitan Vickers whilst studying at the college. I quote ‘He was very ambitious even then and I soon realised that we could help each other to qualify as engineers.’
Dad was very sporty as a young man and played football for the apprentice football team. He was a lifelong fan of Manchester United Football Club.
Towards the end of his apprentiship Dad spent a year at Metropolitan Vickers in Blackheath London. He rented a flat in Streatham with another close friend called Eddie. One weekend George and another friend Colin went to visit. On a night out they went into Soho which, in those days was quite seedy. After consuming a few pints in the local pubs they ended up in a nightclub. On entering the club the 4 of them were separated and taken to individual booths. Glamorous hostesses served them extortionately expensive whisky in T cups. After about 10 minutes drinking it they nodded to one another from across the dance floor before making a dash for the exit. It was a lucky escape. When they returned to the flat they were very noisy. This resulted in Dad and Eddie being asked to leave the flat at the end of the month.
As a young man he was also a keen motorcyclist and there is a picture on the back of your Order of Service of him in those days. Eventually he bought a car. It was a black and red coloured Ford Prefect which he and Mum later Christened ‘Gloria.’
I suspect it was ‘Gloria’ who featured in another of Dads lucky escapes when following a trip to see the Blackpool illuminations the Gang decided that they wanted to be amongst the first to travel across the new Barton High Level Bridge. It hadn’t been officially opened but they drove around the barriers all the same and entered onto the bridge only to discover that the middle section hadn’t been completed.
The boys travelled to Europe in ‘Gloria’ too. They thought they were going in style when they boarded an RAF freighter plane but it rained heavily during the flight across the English Channel and the plane leaked. By the time they landed in France they were all soaked.
Mum used to work in Offices close to Dad. She sometimes saw him walking through the department, riding his motorbike nearby or out and about near to work. It was difficult not to miss him in a crowd because of the colour of his hair.
They finally got together on New Years Eve 1960/61 when they met each other and danced at the Sale Locarno Dance Hall.
About 18 months later they were married.
Dad qualified as an electrical engineer and they moved to Rugby
I was born and we moved to a brand new house in a small village.
This was where Paula, Sandra and I spent our childhood.
He worked hard and during so made many business trips abroad. No matter how far away he was or how busy he had been he would always think of us and bring us back some kind of gift or souvenir.
There are many ornamental memories of his travels at the family home.
We recall his patience when it came to helping us with our algebra and fractions homework. We were amazed at how easy he found this.
Bonfire nights at the local scout camp site where we had hot jacket potato and soup before all walking home smelling of smoke.
His communication skills. For example when he helped me to prepare a well worded letter to avoid a rather hefty travel insurance claim. This followed a mountain rescue call-out that wasn't covered in a standard travel insurance policy.
Great family holidays from St Ives where it rained solid for 2 weeks to Florida where Dad planned every detail of the holiday ensuring that everyone had the best possible time. He even told one or two untruths to enable Sandra who was only 20 at the time to obtain an alcoholic drink.
The family re-located to Dorset around 1982 and Dad moved from electrical engineering to mechanical engineering.
On retirement Dad was able to spend more time with his Grandchildren and to enjoy their company. Despite a later diagnosis of Parkinson’s he never complained and carried on as normal. He made the best of his passion for golf, something he never had time for before retirement making good friends in the process.
A proud moment for him was being able to join Sandra, family and friends in Spain on the occasion of her marriage to Nigel where he was able to do what every father dreams of doing for his daughter and walk her down the aisle.
It’s not possible to sum up Dad in one word but what I will say is that he was kind, welcoming and graceful to all he met in particular Mette, Clive and Nigel and all of their family and friends whom he had occasion to meet and socialise with on so many memorable occasions.
Together with Paula and Sandra I am proud to be able to call him Dad.