A devoted husband, a deeply loved and respected father and an adored grandad and great-grandad. The world seems a little less vibrate without him in it.


My best friend, my role model, I’m so thankful that he was my grandad and I’m even more thankful that I was able to be so close to him and do so many things with him and my granny over the years, creating that special bond I share with them both, not everyone gets that, but I did, because he was the best grandad ever.


My grandad played a massive part in my upbringing and he taught me so much. It feels like I learned most of what I know from him. He was my biggest supporter and he told me I could achieve anything I put my mind too. He was full of love, strength and encouragement.


He was the funniest person you could ever meet, he was so bubbly and he found the light in every bad situation, he cheered everyone up even when he was the one who was ill, his smile lit up every room. He was always smiling, always laughing, always happy and that’s how I will remember him 


He had the best stories to tell, even if I’d heard them on more than one occasion, I’d listen, just to hear his invaluable knowledge and the advice he would share. He always told stories of his upbringing and how things have changed, he’d talk about the crazy things he’d do with his friends when he was younger like the story of his famous domino double six tattoo. I loved listening to the stories of his fishing adventures, fishing was one of his favourite things to do and my favourite story he told was one from when my mum was first born, he went down the Chinese and ordered 6 chicken Maryland’s not realising that even though there was now 6 of them my mum was only a few hours old n she definitely wasn’t eating one. 


He spent a lot of time researching the history of our family and he loved sharing what he’d found with us. His legacy will forever live on in the stories and memories I share with my own children and grandchildren 


My grandad was big on electronics, it was just recently my gran noticed how much he really loved them when we realised how many he actually had. He loved his laptop for playing candy crush and his poker obv course. He also loved scrolling through Facebook and seeing all the pictures of his grandkids and great kids and sharing his jokes. Another thing my grandad really loved was a decent camera, he always had one, and he took a thousand pictures wherever he went, he was always the one behind the camera and very rarely the one in front of it, it took me almost 2 days to go through all of the picture he had taken over the years and I’m so thankful to have all these memories to look back on. 


He always spoiled us wherever we went, I was lucky enough to have my grandad and granny on almost every holiday I went on, he always got the best tan and my mum would get so Jealous of how dark he was, I remember one year when we went to salou my mum n dad gave me and my sister a limited amount of spending money per day, we were almost at the end of our spending but we really wanted these inflatable boats so he bought us both one so we wouldn’t have to use our own money and got us to pretend we got them on our own, but my mum Knew. Me and my sister were so happy for the rest of our holiday on those little boats even when it rained he helped us put one boat over our heads so we could still go in the pool in the pouring rain without getting wet like little princesses 


He adored each of his grandkids, no matter how old we were, where we lived or what we were doing with our lives. He loved each of us unconditionally, and without holding back. I’m so Grateful he got the chance to meet my kids and be such a big part of their lives too. It’s the little memories I will always remember like him playing bang the spoon on the pole with darci in the garden for a solid half hour, I don’t know how his head wasn’t splitting sore, or when he’d tell Dylan the make of all his little race cars over and over every time he asked. He really loved a cheeky wain even when my gran said darci wasn’t allowed to touch the landline he’d give it to her n tell her she could phone who she liked as long as it wasn’t her boyfriend 


He was the life and soul of the party, a social butterfly, he’d make friends with complete strangers wherever he went, even if it was just a trip to Morrisons along the road. He threw the best Christmas parties, it was the highlight of my Christmas taking my new toys along to show him and so he could fix them for me with batteries or whatever else they needed. Then everyone would get drunk and dance, he’d have lots of nibbles n snacks, With the best cocktail sticks and then I’d get to have a sleepover. 


While my mum and dad worked my gran and grandad would collect me from school, They would take me to my favourite park to play every day, and buy us lots of goodies from the shop. Grandad would even sneak us some fizzy juice as long as we promised not to tell. He was always full of fun, even after his heart operation he was still doing things he shouldn’t have been, like in Craig tara he was going down all the slides that specifically said you shouldn’t go down if you have a heart condition, He said it was to boring just swimming around the pool so he went for an adventure 


He had a habit of telling all his grandkids that he was 27 and sometimes he would often tell others the same thing, he always acted young so In our eyes he will be 27 always. In life and now death he wouldn't want us to focus on the sadness and sorrow but to continue to love and support each other no matter the situation. He smiled and participated in life until the very end. It's surreal to think he will no longer be here, I will treasure the memories I have of him. I know that he is no longer in pain, and is now at peace with his head phones in and classical music on his radio.


This isn’t goodbye it’s until we meet again,
until then we will wrap Granny in all the love and comfort that you provided for her in the 54 years you were married. We will continue to look at photos and remember the amazing times we had with you. We will talk to you and seek your guidance when we need it, and look for you in nature when we miss you terribly. We will keep your memory alive and never, ever forget you. Love you forever grandad, Ashley, Dylan & Darci