A Few Ramblings…
Forty-six year old Christian happily negotiating the world with a wife and three daughters
A wintry walk at Cliveden – 22nd February 2011
I had a couple of days off following Dad’s funeral and on Tuesday afternoon, we decided to meet my sister (Heather) and my nephew and niece (Hugh and Katy) over at Cliveden House.
Four cousins at Cliveden
We finally got around to joining the National Trust during our holiday in Weymouth, back in October last year, and this was the first chance we’d taken to use our membership – albeit still with temporary cards!
Mum was planning to join us for the afternoon but she had been struck down with a virilant bug that seems to be doing the rounds at the moment.
The weather was cold and cloudy as we took a walk along the ‘Snowdrop trail’.
Snowdrops!
The girls enjoyed seeing the early spring flowers and spotted a couple of early daffodils that had seen fit to break cover early.
After the trail, which passed through the woodlands to the house, we ended up visiting the new wooden park and the girls enjoyed playing there for a while.
Finally we managed to persuade them that it was time to defrost, and we headed off to the shop for a couple of purchases before heading home.
Hopefully we’ll get back up there again in a few weeks time to see the daffodils in all their glory – with slightly warmer weather!
Photos of Dad shown after his funeral – 21st February 2011
After Dad’s funeral, while food was being served, we had some photos of Dad projected onto the screen. These can be seen below:
A final goodbye to Dad – 21st February 2011
Today it was finally time to say farewell to Dad, who had passed away some four weeks ago.
Order of Service for Dad's Thanksgiving Service
We had a great turnout of almost 120 people, at Parkside Christian Fellowship, who came along to pay their respects and say goodbye to Dad, including several from the company where Dad used to work and others from all parts of the country.
Victor chaired the service and began by giving a contemporary reading of Paul’s description of a Christian character which he linked in to also being the characteristics that Dad displayed in his life.
I then read one of Dad’s favourite Psalms, Psalm 8.
The opening hymn was How great Thou art.
Adrian then opened in prayer, particularly giving thanks for Dad’s life, his faith and the fact that he is now with his Lord.
This was followed by the reading of Psalm 46, which was read by Dad’s son-in-law, Martin.
The first tribute was read by Dad’s brother, Dennis and focussed on Dad’s early life and growing up initially in north London. Dad was born in 1932 and the family moved to Maidenhead in 1937.
Dad with his sister Myrtle and older brother Dennis
Dad showed an early interest in music and started playing the piano at the age of six sparking off a lifelong musical talent.
This musical talent also came to the fore as Dad was able to correctly identify several planes in the war just by listening to the tone of the engine.
Dennis ran through several amusing stories of Dad’s childhood and gave a ‘potted history’ of his life.
Dad and Mum on their wedding day in 1961
Adrian then read a tribute that Mum had written about her forty-nine years that she spent with Dad. This mentioned many happy memories of holidays as well as Dad’s fondness for the washing up and gardening. Mum and Dad enjoyed travelling overseas to Switzerland, Austria and Norway where they spent many happy visits. It also touched on how much Dad would be missed by all the family, including his seven grandchildren.
Dad with his grand-daughter, Katy
Heather painted a happy picture of her own childhood growing up, regaling a number of amusing incidents including Dad’s famous compost heap as well as his various incidents with second-hand cars and the amusing story of the picnic bag!
Finally I gave a shortened version of my blog post following Dad’s passing away.
The second hymn was In Christ alone.
John Milward, formerly of Milwards Shoes, gave a short tribute of Dad’s work life picking Dad out as being a ‘dedicated colleague’, a ‘loyal friend’ and a ‘man of God’. His character and personality could be summed up by the word ‘graciousness’.
The final tribute was delivered by Lawson, who had known Dad at Parkside since the 1960s. He brought out Dad’s dependability and willingness to use his musical and financial gifts while at Parkside.
Even more valued were his people skills and Lawson talked about Dad’s humility, gentleness and encouragement to others.
Dad’s eldest grandson, Simon, read the final reading from John 11:25 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
Ken Ward gave a short talk on the subject ‘Hope for tomorrow’ using the story of the death and resurrection of Lazarus and linking in that Dad will ‘rise again’ when the Lord returns to the earth.
Victor then closed the service with prayer.
Flowers at Dad's Thanksgiving Service
We then adjourned over to the peaceful Long Lane Cemetery in Cookham for a short committal service led by Adrian, with David Angell giving a final prayer.
It was a difficult day, but we felt that the service couldn’t have gone any better. The various tributes wove together wonderfully well to really capture the very essence of Dad’s character and devotion to his Lord and Saviour.
Dad in the garden
We will all miss him very much, but are thankful that he is now free from all his suffering, and with his Lord.
He was a man that I was proud to call ‘Dad’.
Click below to listen to the service.
A final farewell to Grandma
The Order of Service
After what seems like an age since Grandma passed away, it was finally time to say goodbye to her today.
Around 90 people joined us for a wonderful thanksgiving service for her long life, at our church, Parkside Christian Fellowship, in Maidenhead.
Before the service, a number of pieces of classical music were played, including work from Elgar, Delius and Fauré as well as work from Karl Jenkins’ Gloria and The Armed Man.
Grandma’s coffin arrived borne aloft on the shoulders of several of her grandsons in a tribute to how they regarded her.
A number of her Grandchildren took part in various ways during the service which was taken by Victor Michael and opened with the hymn ‘Great is Thy Faithfulness’. This was followed by an opening prayer from Grandma’s oldest grandson, Adrian.
Two readings followed, the first taken from Psalm 121 and read by another grandson, Timothy.
Nick, a third grandson, read the second reading, from John 14.
Two of Grandma’s grand-daughters, Georgie and Katy read the moving poem ‘You can shed tears that she is gone’, by David Harkins.
The second hymn, was one chosen by Grandma, ‘Oh love that will not let me go’.
The first tribute was from Grandma’s son, John. He began by putting Grandma’s life into context. She was born in 1914, at the same time as Monet was painting and Elgar was composing, in a far off world where England’s Empire circled the world and houses were lit with gas and oil lamps, where the life expectancy was just 47 years.
She lost her mother to TB at the age of 3½ and was looked after by her aunt. She left school at 14, went to college and learned shorthand at 140 words per minute. She started work at 15¾ and was promoted to Office Manager at 16 and worked for eight years commuting up to London.
Grandma and Grandad's Wedding Day
She married in 1938 and gave her husband a watch as a wedding present – he gave her a vacuum cleaner!
He finished with numerous personal anecdotes and reminiscences of his mother’s life, many of which caused amusement.
The second tribute was from Grandma’s daughter Eileen, who lives in Winnipeg, and was particularly centred on the Canadian side of the family. Grandma visited Canada five times altogether and the Canadians also came over to England several times.
She singled out Grandma’s hospitality – both for the family and for others who visited. Grandma sent out many parcels to the Canadian children and grandchildren each Christmas which were always warmly welcomed by the family.
Grandma was always active and busy – cooking, gardening, washing, ironing, knitting, making rugs. She would rarely just sit still. Her handmade dolls clothes have been passed down through the generations.
Grandma loved children and babies and always loved to hear stories about the family in Canada. She was very decisive with an opinion on everything. She enjoyed shopping and bought most of her acquisitions on the spur of the moment. Her favourite colour was mauve.
I delivered the third and final tribute to Grandma and I simply read these words.
The final reading was from Revelation 21 and was read by another grandson, Jason.
Flowers at Grandma's funeral
Victor gave an interesting and amusing address that centred around Grandma’s work both at Climping Camp as well as the children’s Club that they held in their home. He punctuated his talk with various additional memories that other people had sent him, of their time spent with Grandma.
Climping is a Christian camp that was founded by Grandma and Grandad, among others, over 50 years ago. It is still held every summer and regularly attracts around 100 people each year. It began at Climping in West Sussex and is now held in Romsey.
Grandma had a great fondness for children and the Club that they held in their home for so many years was attended by many youngsters who would enjoy all kinds of fun and games, inevitably finishing with refreshments including the infamous homemade ginger-beer, and an epilogue.
Victor reminded us of Grandma’s faithful service for her Lord and that we shouldn’t be sad as she is now at peace and with her Lord. As Christians, we should be challenged by how she lived her life for her Lord and take her example through into our own lives.
Her work was described by others as displaying ‘unwavering commitment’, ‘great example’, ‘selfless devotion’, ‘faithfulness’, ‘showed us God’s love’, ‘a dedicated, quiet worker for the Lord’.
The final hymn from the service was again chosen by Grandma – ‘The King of Love my Shepherd is’ before Adrian closed the service with prayer.
Goodbye Grandma
Grandma would have loved the service – particularly with so many of her grandchildren able to be there and to take part.
We then adjourned to brave the bitter wind at Braywick cemetery for a short service, led by David Angell, before laying Grandma to rest.
It was a fitting finale for a wonderful and much-loved lady whose life spanned almost a century. She had such a full life and will be missed by so many in numerous ways.
I am proud to have had her as my Grandma.
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You can listen to the service, and I’d recommend it, by clicking on the arrow below.
A Few Ramblings... 