Eulogy for Walter Crowhurst Walter Crowhurst (often known as Wally) was born on the 22nd of March 1931 in Tonbridge. He was the middle of 7 children, with two older sisters and four brothers. He is survived by his brother Reg who will no doubt miss the hour long telephone chats on Sunday mornings. Wally was brought up in Rusthall near Tunbridge Wells. He lived in sight of Toad Rock and spent many happy hours climbing up onto the rock and jumping to the sand below – an early example of his defying authority. The war came which disrupted his education – possibly more than it need to have done. If the air raid sirens sounded on the way to school he was told to either go home or continue to school depending on whether he was more or less than half way. He always managed to convince both school and home that he was at the other. Instead he climbed into the gardens of large houses and helped himself to fruit. He was a believer in the redistribution of wealth and was always keen on feeding the inner man. He said that he actually quite enjoyed the war – and found it quite exciting. He could sit on Toad Road and watch the dog fights and made friends with American service men who were stationed nearby. He was upset by the prejudice shown towards the black servicemen by fellow white American servicemen and could not understand this when everyone was supposed to be on the same side. He continued to be upset by people being treated unfairly for the rest of his life . As a youngster he built his own bicycle out of bits and pieces of other bikes and he and his friends used to cycle for miles – Brighton, Maidstone to visit the zoo – all on a very basic bike. No lycra for dad! Dad left school and after some odd jobs was apprenticed to be an electrician. He was colour blind though and on one of his early jobs was asked to paint the fence at the Convent in Tunbridge Wells. He ran out of paint and proactively went and bought more to finish the job and continued working away – totally unaware that it was a completely different colour. He loved his work and took real pride in what he did. He worked both in industry and on house wiring for the local Council and at one point had his own company. He was still giving out advice on wiring right up to the last few weeks of hi s life. He could turn his hand to most things and did all his own car repairs – often with his children standing on the side of the car watching proceedings . He was called up to National Service – something he very much resented as it interfered with his life. He wanted to go into the Navy but they wouldn’t have him because he was colour blind so he joined the RAF Regiment instead. He disliked the basic training intensely – the Yorkshire moors were cold and miserable and dad has always hated being cold. He was posted to Egypt which suited him much better. He loved the sun and found the whole place really exotic after Rusthall. He said that he was grateful for the chance to travel and widen his horizons but when he was demobbed he vowed never again to take meaningless instructions from anyone – and he kept to that throughout his life. On a home leave he went to a dance at the Youth Club with his best friend Charlie and there they met two girls Milly and Beryl. This was the start of a love that lasted until 2008 when his beloved Milly was taken from him. Dad was definitely a one woman man but not known for his romantic nature. Apparently he said to mum one day – “Well I suppose we ought to get married”, mum didn’t say much but when he called round the next evening he found that mum had arranged virtually everything - date, Church, reception etc. She clearly recognised a good thing when she saw it and was not going to let him get away. After their wedding they moved to a small cottage in Borough Green which became home for the next nine years. Once again Dad showed his determination to ignore the word no. The cottage had no running water or electricity. The landlady said it could not be done and so dad put both water and electricity in – much to her annoyance as the other tenants then demanded the same. From there the family moved to a new Council house in East Malling – by then there were three children, Elizabeth, Susan and Derek – all only three years apart. A big feature of family life were weekend visits to grandparents and an annual summer holiday. Dad lived for his family and holidays – even when really hard up he managed to pull together a holiday of some sort. Usually in the West Country. He later bought a caravan and towed it up to Scotland, Wales and the Lake District. As well as his full time job and time spent with his children, Wally also found time to volunteer at Bower Grove School organising fund raising and Summer Fayres. He and Milly made life- long friends with June and Bob. Bob and Wally were affectionately known as Compo and Foggy as they were always up to something. Neither could resist taking things apart to see how they worked. When grandchildren started to come along he took them away as well – and events often led to an expansion of their vocabulary when things did not go according to plan. He loved his grandchildren and great grandchildren and loved to hear what they were up to – he was very proud of their achievements and they loved his company. Apart from his family and his holidays his other great love was Cricket. He was a Life Member of Kent Cricket Club and loved taking his grandchildren and more recently great grandson to watch Kent and eat ice cream. As soon as he could afford it he and mum started to go abroad for holidays and went to many European Countries but their greatest love was for Crete and they returned their many times. Once he had lost Milly he continued to travel and most recently has developed a love of Poland where we have family members. He and mum moved to retirement bungalow in Snodland and put down very happy roots there. Despite retiring at 65 he has managed to keep himself busy with voluntary work – he was a visitor for La Farge and made regular visits to La Farge pensioners ensuring that they got the benefits they were entitled to and helping with sourcing stair lifts, visiting them in hospital and attending their funerals. He loved this work as it meant he could get out and meet people, have a good chin wag and also do something helpful and worthwhile. He has carried this on right up to late Spring of this year. He was happy to give everything a go – and was tickled pink to be a martial when the Olympic Torch came through Borough Green, enjoyed a trip to Le Touquet in a light aircraft for his 80th birthday and was always out and about. He looked after Milly throughout her illness and was devastated when he lost her after 54 years of marriage. However, he picked himself up because he knew that was what she would have wanted him to do. Not only did he carry on with his pensioner visits but he started voluntary work for the Hospice and has just received a Long Service Award from them for 5 years service. The Hospice has been a life saver for him – he attended a Bereavement Group there and has made a circle of the most fabulous friends and regularly attended meals and meetings. He loved them and they feel the same. He has managed to remain active and interested in everything around him right up until the last few months when his heart and cancer began to slow him down. He faced his illness with a combination of practicality and optimism. He bought himself a new garden shed and renewed his passport whilst at the same time making sure his affairs were all in order. He spent his last days at home being visited by those who loved him – he was happy and content to be there. His was a good life – well lived.