He was a loving father to Daron, Stephen, myself and Kim. Father in law to Victoria, Joan, Claire and Philippe, and formerly to Nigel and Diane. Loving and doting Grandad to Joshua, Nathan, Zac, Carys, Christopher, Martin, Charlotte and Rachel, Great Grandad to William, Evelyn and Freddie, and held a special place in the hearts of Kat and Claudia. 
Fondly known as “Ronnie” he was brother to Roye, Colin, Derek and Diane, Uncle to Christine, Jayne, Lesley, Helen and Graham.  
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Dad was born in Manchester on the 20th February 1933. His early years were spent much like any other child of his era until in September of 1939, as part of “Operation Pied Piper”, and at the tender age of six, he was evacuated to a small village in Derbyshire just across from Chatsworth House.
I recall Dad telling me how much he liked it there, “Mrs. Maltby baked her own bread, biscuits and cakes, and she made me feel special” he would say. 
He tells me of her son who had a motorcycle and how he used to walk down the lane to meet him on his way home from work saying “the longer I walked the lane the longer the ride back on the bike would be” Exciting times for a six year old boy.
After some months as an evacuee he eventually returned home, and wanting to play his part in the war, he would stand in the yard and watch the fighter planes having “dog fights” in the air with the German bombers, and using the clothes prop as an “ack-ack” gun he would shoot up at them in a futile effort to bring them down! 
I remember he said that his plan had backfired on him as on the night of 23rd December 1940 the German Bombers came to get their own back on him, and the people of Manchester, this was known as The Blitz. 
He had to take cover, not in a shelter, but under the dining table downstairs by the fireplace, of course there was no fire burning as the smoke would show to the German bomber planes. He said “I awoke to an almighty bang, a landmine bomb had hit and demolished two houses 300 yards away, nobody was hurt in our house but the windows were blown in and I was covered in Soot”!!
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At the age of eighteen Dad was conscripted to do National Service and in February 1951 joined the RAF where he did “Wireless and Signalling” training at RAF Catterick. 
On the 26th November 1951 he was posted to the Suez Canal Zone and placed on escort duties. I recall one tale, of which there were many, where Dad remembers having the tailboard shot out of his Bedford QL truck as he collected mail. He was later ambushed but managed to escape, he and the driver fled and luckily found the safety of an army patrol – he said “I recall us running off as fast as we could but looking back I could see the mail envelopes floating in the Suez Canal, to this day I don’t know what happened to them or my truck”! 
He was later assigned to a three car armed escort with the RAF Police for the British Ambassador in Tripoli travelling to the airfield in Fayid, Northeast of Cairo, with strict orders to drive flat out and stop for nothing! He served 46 days on active service in the Suez and in later years was awarded the General Service Medal, amongst others. 
Dad was then posted to RAF Habbaniya in central Iraq where he joined No.2 Armoured Car Squadron. His diary has the entry “This is my first day in Habbaniya” with the date showing as the 1st January 1952. He served on operations in Iraq, Suez, UAE, Transjordan, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait until his discharge in 1954. 
Dad always remained a very proud veteran of the RAF, both of the Regiment and Armoured Cars Association, and would always attend the biannual reunions which took place in Derby and would never miss his annual visit to the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire to celebrate Armed Forces Day.  
In 1956 Dad joined the Merchant Navy as a tourist steward on board ship, the SS Oronsay, and did several world tours, this is obviously where his great knowledge of geography came from!
He was married to Mum on the 25th March 1960 and in 1962 the next “Fairweather generation” began… firstly with Daron, followed by Stephen, then me and Kim in ‘68 ….. Dad always referred to us as his “Four Aces”
After leaving life at sea, Dad’s career took a different path from that of his military start and he became a salesman, working for numerous companies over the years selling goods such as tobacco, food and latterly chocolate for Terry’s of York before retiring in 1990 at the age of 57…. Now there’s the dream!
Dad enjoyed his retirement, living a relatively simple life, always making time for family and friends, of which he had plenty. You would always find him at family events and he thoroughly enjoyed Birthdays and Christmas time with the children. 
He enjoyed taking frequent holidays, many of them to Tunisia or Malta with his brother Roye or with friends, I think Tunisia welcomed him some twenty or so times over the years!
He loved having holidays with his grandchildren and was always keen to make sure everyone had a good time – Dad was like your ultimate tour guide, he knew what to do and where to go… or at least we let him think he did!!
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In 2013 he enjoyed a milestone 80th birthday, partying and celebrating with his family and friends, many of you will recall that special night – his face lit up when he walked into the room to be met with so many of you there to wish him well.  
So many people over the years following that event commented on his extraordinary independence and self-sufficiency well into his 80’s. He would think nothing of driving to visit family and friends, jetting off on holiday or simply going to the shops for his weekly groceries. 
In recent years Dad endured several health problems but always seemed to bounce back, never complaining about taking medication or having various procedures to help him get well again, he would always say “Whatever, I’ll just go along with it” – In March of 2020 came the most devastating news when he was diagnosed with lung cancer, he initially underwent some radiotherapy treatment, which at the time showed positive results, however this later developed into a brain metastasis.
In June of this year, following a six week stay in hospital, specialists advised there wasn’t any further treatment available to him and he was discharged. 
He chose to spend his time at home being cared for by his family and a truly fantastic team of carers from Routes Healthcare – Ultimately this was another fight his “ack-ack” gun wasn’t going to win for him! 
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Dad kept positive throughout and fought with the utmost courage, never once complaining nor getting angry, in fact even in his final days he was adamant he was booking his next holiday to Ibiza as soon as possible! 
He remained, as he had his whole life, the perfect gentleman until sadly his fight ended at lunchtime on the 20th October. 
A friend recently described him as a “Colossus of a man”….. Never a truer word spoken. 


And so that brings me to the end of my “tribute”, I thank each and every one of you again for taking the time today to come and celebrate the life of a truly great man. We are all going to miss him so much. He was the perfect role model. 


Anyone who has spent time with Dad at an event or celebration will relate to what Dad would say now, and so with his phrase I shall close “Right you nice people, it’s time I wasn’t here”  


Rest in Peace Dad, we all love you. 


Per ardua ad astra