Obituaries 2014

Obituaries
People Remembered 2014
Obituaries Index │ Fallen Heroes

John Francis Myerscough 1934 - 2014

John was born in Birmingham on 3rd November 1934.

In November 1940 their family home was badly damaged by the bombs so the family were evacuated to Worcestershire were they stayed until their house was repaired.

At the end of the war, John went to Yardley Grammar School in Birmingham where he enjoyed playing rugby and cricket: passions he maintained for the rest of his life.

On leaving school he trained as a mechanical engineer and in 1956 he served in the RAF for his 2 years National Service as a Junior Technician.

John married Ann in 1959 and they had two children Dawn and Robert. In 1966, he accepted a job with the Swedish multi national company Alfa Lava at its subsidiary plant in South Wales. Sadly, in 1974 Ann was diagnosed with breast cancer and she died in 1981 aged 46.

John married his second wife Eileen in 1982 and a year later accepted a position with Alfa Laval in Johannesburg, South Africa. In 1988, while still working for Alfa Laval he and Eileen moved to Sydney and after two years they returned to the UK and set up home in South Wales near Eileen’s family.

John undertook self-employed consultancy work with a number of different companies and organisations.

He retired in 1999 and in 2003 moved to Radwell to live with his daughter. In 2010 Dawn and husband Paul moved away however John decided to remain in Bedfordshire and moved to Felmersham.

John led a full, varied and well-travelled life. His greatest passions were his family, especially his grandchildren, his friends, sport mainly rugby, cricket and Formula 1, walking, camping and music.

Joyce Parker 1926 - 2014

The photo is of Joyce serving in Betts shop. It was taken in 1990 just before the shop closed down.

Joyce Edith Parker was born on 19th November 1926 one of five children. In October 1953 she married Don Parker in Felmersham church. In 1956 their first child Judith was born followed by Ian in 1961.

Joyce & Don lived in the row until 1961 when they moved to Church End where they would live for the rest of their lives.

Many in the village will remember Joyce working in Betts the local shop until it closed.

Joyce is survived by her son Ian, 2 Grandchildren & 4 Great Grandchildren. Michael Hunt

Frederick Edward Stevens, 23rd May 1912 – 11th September 2014

Freddie as a Major in the army

Mike Benson writes:
Freddie, as everyone knew him, was born in London and grew up in South London (near the Oval cricket ground). One of his earliest memories was of the end of the First World War. He heard the gun being fired in Hyde Park on that foggy morning. He began playing the piano as a small child and sang as a boy chorister in the choir at St. Stephen's Wallbrook, London. He won a LCC scholarship to Dulwich College (public school) and from there won an organ scholarship to St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he studied modern languages and music. He finally graduated in 1935 and went on to become a teacher.

He was called up in 1940 and served in Intelligence with the 21st Army Group, led by
Field-Marshal Montgomery. After the war, by which time he was married with a young family, he returned to teaching for a short while before being appointed County Adviser for Music and Drama for Bedfordshire. He was subsequently appointed Assistant Director of Education, overseeing, among other things, the 11+ examination and the school meals service! Freddie was Chorus Master for Bedford Choral Society in the 1950s and 1960s.

He moved to Felmersham in the early 1960s and was the first occupant of 5 Marriotts Close where he lived until 2009. He retired in 1977 and loved walking round the village, meeting and talking to people and he was well known. Early in 2009, he moved to Puttenhoe Care Home and a year later moved to Sharnbrook House where he lived for the rest of his life.

Freddie leaves two step-daughters, two sons by his first marriage and two daughters by his second marriage. He had numerous grand-children and even great grand-children.

Freddie was a very good friend. May he rest in peace.

Freddie's son writes:
The major theme throughout Freddie Stevens' life was music. As a young boy he showed a talent for it and was encouraged by both parents and his grandfather. This talent paved the way for a scholarship to Dulwich and later an organ scholarship to St Catharine's College, Cambridge. He taught music at Giggleswick and Aldenham schools until the outbreak of the Second World War when he joined the army. During the war he occasionally found the opportunity to play. He finished his service in the army as a Major and was mentioned in despatches.

After the war Freddie married and held the post of Music Organiser for Bedford eventually becoming a Music Inspector for the Department of Education in North Bedfordshire. In his leisure time he joined Bedford Musical Society and was Chorus Master for many years. Freddie moved to Felmersham in the early sixties which gave him the opportunity to enjoy nature at first hand. He was a regular church goer and occasionally played the organ for church services and the piano for village events. Freddie spent his final years as a resident in Sharnbrook House.

Lesley Walker 1967 - 2014

Lesley was born on 9th August 1967, to Brenda and Harrold in the town of March, Cambridgeshire. The youngest of 5 Children, Lesley used to love doing the potato picking with her family, whilst growing up on Creek Fen.

Lesley attended Hereward Secondary School and was a keen gymnast. Later she met Adrian, and they spent their time together in both Portsmouth and March. They had 2 boys, Ryan and Nathan.

While living in Yaxley near Peterborough, Lesley met Andy and they began their new life together. They moved to Felmersham in 2002 where Andy continued with the family business with Lesley as company secretary.

In 2009 Lesley was diagnosed with cancer and the battle against the illness began. In early 2010 she was given the news that the cancer was in remission which was followed with lots of holidays and enjoyment of life. In 2012 Lesley was given the devastating news that cancer had returned and was incurable. She continued the fight against cancer until 12th November 2014 when she succumbed to the disease.

Michael Thomas 1934 - 2014

Michael was born in Beckenham Kent on 28th April 1934. At the age of 3 the family moved to Hove, Sussex where he spent the rest of his childhood and teenage years. In 1940, at the age of 6, he was evacuated to Hertfordshire but returned home two years later after the fear of invasion passed.

After the war Michael continued his education at Hove County Grammar. At the age of 15 he was picked to represent Sussex Schools in the all England school sports championships for two consecutive years. He also had two seasons playing for Brighton and Hove Albion Football club where he had a regular place in their reserve team and became a lifelong supporter of the club.

In 1952, he was called up to do two years National Service. After his basic training he was transferred to the Royal Army Education Corps and, as an education officer, was sent to Germany where he was responsible for maths education of the newly recruited troops.

Michael and Joan had known each other since childhood and in 1956 they married in Hove and moved to Brighton. Three years later Nick was born and they moved to Angmering Village where both Karen and Paula were born.

Michael started his working life at Vitamins Ltd pharmaceutical products and then Marley Tiles in the South East but in 1966 he made the big decision to change jobs and leave Sussex to live in Kenilworth, Warwickshire. Joan and Michael lived happily in Kenilworth while all the children went through their schooling and Michael became very involved in the local squash and tennis club. He was an accomplished squash player.

With a change of job in 1986 Michael and Joan moved to Felmersham. With another job move necessary Michael was determined to stay in Felmersham and for three years before his retirement in 1994 he commuted back to Crawley, Sussex on a Monday morning returning to Felmersham on Friday nights for the weekend.

While enjoying golf he was keen to help and became a founder member of the new Pavenham Golf Club. He became captain of the seniors and thoroughly enjoyed his time on the golf course. After a hip replacement in 2004 his time out on the course was somewhat curtailed but he still enjoyed the social side of the club.

He was a former vice chairman of Felmersham Parish Council; one of his favourite jobs was to raise and lower the flag at St. Marys Church on all the appropriate flag days. Michael was aware of the need within the parish to offer support to other residents who may be experiencing problems and he instigated and became inaugural Chairman of Felmersham and Radwell Community Care securing funding to successfully run and operate the service for the village. One of his last duties was to acquire land adjacent to the river at Felmersham, for the benefit of the parish, with funds kindly bequeathed to Community Care.

Michael was a gentle person who enjoyed family life and all those he knew looked up to him and he will be sadly missed but fondly remembered by family and friends.

If you wish, you can record the death of someone dear to you by writing a short obituary for insertion into this section. The person may have died some years ago, the only qualification is that they must have spent some of their life living in the parish of Felmersham or Radwell.