I thought I would say a little bit about Dad's life to help fill in the bits some of you may not know……….

He was born on 26^th January, in 1937 and grew up in Norway Street, Ardwick.  He went to St Clements Youth group where, in 1953, at the age of 16, he met my Mum.

They married 3 years later and, as Dad was doing his National Service in Pembrokeshire, they spent the next year living in Manor Bier.

In 1958 they moved into Kelvin Street, Ashton,  where Jaqueline and I were born.

Then in 1972 we moved to the grocer’s shop in Audenshaw Road which my mum ran.

For the first half of his working life Dad was a plumber, and for the second half, a works maintenance engineer.  He always enjoyed his work even though sometimes he had to go in at odd hours to fix a problem before the next shift started.  In the mornings, as I was getting ready for school, he would be sitting down with not one but two cups of tea listening to the news on what he always called the “wireless”.

He was a very practical and hardworking Dad.  He had quite literally made a home for us, not once but twice, completely renovating the house in Kelvin Street and then again in Audenshaw Road.  This included converting the shop into a house, and all this was usually after working five and a half days a week.

He also often helped friends and family whenever they needed it with anything from a dripping tap to major renovation work.

He loved music and his three great passions were country music, Welsh male voice choirs and pipe bands.  It was Dad's request to include all three in his service; he came into the church to one of his favourite country songs and the next Hymn will be a tip of his cap to Welsh male voice choirs. So brace yourselves - you will be also be getting the sound of the bagpipes later!

My two sons, Joseph and William, loved their Grandad very much and likewise he absolutely adored being a Grandad. Although we didn’t live close by, we made the most of our meet ups and phone calls. He loved hearing how they were getting on and talking to them.  He also managed to get to several of their canoe races to watch them in action.  The phrase " give them a fiver from me" became commonplace whenever they did well. 

If we were going on holiday or away for a weekend, he would often ask me to "buy the boys an ice cream" - even if it was winter and by now the "boys" were 16 & 19!

Joseph and William also really enjoyed being with him and he made them laugh so much.

The last five years have been hard for Dad.  In October 2013 my sister Jacqueline passed away suddenly, and by his own admission her loss left a big hole in both his and Mum’s lives.  Mum was already undergoing treatment for cancer at this time.  They had been married for 59 years when mum passed away. In that time they had hardly ever been apart except for the odd day or two here and there. So it was not surprising that it hit him hard.  He wrote in his tribute that the 59 years of happy marriage with Marion would keep him strong though the coming days.

Over the last two and a half years it certainly did.

Despite his obvious grief he remained very bright, cheerful and positive, and kept his great sense of humour.

As much as his health would allow, he would come to Padfield Congregational Church on Sundays and I would like to thank Ken and the rest of the congregation for making him so welcome. He really enjoyed coming and chatting with you all. 

Having barely used a computer before, Dad took on Mum’s facebook page to keep up with what we and the wider family were doing.

He learned to email, and text ……… most of which made sense!  He even had a smartphone!

In January I gave him his latest challenge, which was a Google home speaker so he could ask it to play his favourite music or radio station; listening to Oldham Community Radio filled many a happy hour.

This was one old dog who could certainly learn new tricks.

One of my lasting memories of Dad will be our trip last October when I took him back to Manor Bier and Tenby in Pembrokeshire. He really enjoyed the two days walking and driving around the area talking about their early married life, the places they had been to and the people they had known. I found it fascinating and I got to know so much more about Mum and Dad,  like how he had been caught asleep on guard duty or, how he passed his rifle test without firing a single shot!

You tend to find it's the little things that suddenly make you remember someone.

So for Dad it will be:

New potatoes  - Pembrokeshire's for obvious reasons

"Tater Ash"

Liquorice Allsorts

Whiskey Mac

And Peanut Brittle

Other things we will remember about him are:

Whenever he was standing around talking he would jangle the change in his pocket - that one drove both Kate and me mad!

When we spoke on the phone, after chatting for nearly half an hour, his parting phrase would be "oh a quick one" - which meant we would be on the phone for at least another 15 minutes sorting something out!

His cap and walking sticks, one of which he always had with him …………..except when he had left it yet again hanging on the checkout counter in the supermarket!

And one I am sure many of the ladies here will remember is him greeting you with a smile and the words "Hello Flower".

As his health began to fail he found it harder to get about, and although still able to drive he found walking any distance more and more difficult. I think what frustrated him more than the inconvenience to himself was his inability to continue to help others.  It was now his turn to be helped.

It goes without saying that I am going to miss Dad very much, he was a real character, full of sunshine, warmth, generosity and humour.

I am so pleased that we were able spend so much quality time with him particularly in the last few years. He was a true gentleman and a gentle man.

I am very proud to say that Bob, Mac, Bobby, Robert, however you knew him, was my Dad and Grandad to my sons.  We all loved him very much.