George
is survived by his three children, Rhoda, Daimon & Alex and by six
grandchildren and by six great grandchildren.
Was born in Basingstoke and the family moved down to Bridgemary near
Fareham when he was young.
He joined the Royal Marines as a band boy aged 14 learnt to play the
violin and clarinet and of course the drums, at the end of his career
you would see him proudly at the front of the marching band holding
up the mace, he was very proud of his time in the marines and to this
day would somehow get it into the conversation within the first few
sentences along with the fact that he had a part in the drama Bergerac.
During the war he served on many different types of ships and saw action
in many parts of the world and visited many countries when his service
continued after the war until he left in 1952.
When he left the marines he became an agent for the Pearl Assurance
Company in Gosport then family left the area and moved to Shirley when
George became an assistant manager, Later he became an Ordinary Branch
lnspector and travelled around the south.
Later promoted to district manager for Salisbury lsle of Wight and Jersey
until he retired.
After his retirement in Jersey he applied for a part in the drama Bergerac
after it was suggested more as a joke, first part was a member of the
crowd, next he played a journalist and then a police chief inspector.
George had a great sense of humour and loved to play practical jokes
on friends, he once planted light bulbs in a neighbour's front lawn
so they would think they had mushrooms when they woke up.
With his second family lived in Spain for a small time, in an area called
Costa del Sol, where his children went to an international school. Often
after school they would have an adventure, and on this occasion they
went looking for unusual creatures, they carried a small glass jar with
them in case the children found something small legged to put in the
jar. On this particular day were lucky to find some small lizards, in
they went into the jar, to take home and look after for a while. Dad
always encouraged them to put the wildlife back where we had found it.
As he did when tadpole season came along we caught them in jars, watched
them develop and put them back in the ponds once their tiny legs started
to grow. Dad encouraged us to build insect homes, and give them names
too! There was an insect that I grew up believing was called a beedley
bum, this name for insects was passed down to all the generations, this
of course was not its real name, however for years and years I called
it this until one day my teacher said " this is a woodlouse whilst
pointing at this insect, I was baffled saying aloud this a beedley bum,
the teacher looked just as baffled as I did, the class erupted in laughter
and so did l. He had a great sense of humour, as well as a great fondness
for nature, loved all from animals to insects.
George would get excited when a new James Bond film came out, and would
buy tickets to watch the movie at the cinema. He loved all the old Bond
movies.
He had without a doubt green fingers, he loved his gardens, most of
all growing his own fresh vegetables, the delight it gave him to harvest
what he had sown. When living in lsle of Wight, he told our neighbours
they must plant their seeds at midnight on a full moon and so they did.
Again very much a prankster!
George later moved back to the lsle of Wight after leaving Jersey, as
the years took hold he moved to Havant and stayed with his cousin Tina
in his last years he lived near his eldest daughter in Hythe.
George loved fishing river, beach or lake it didn't matter, in the early
days he even bought a small blue boat that would fit on the roof rack
so he could fish in Southampton Water.
One weekend he invited his grandson over to the island for a weekends'
fishing while he was waiting to make sure Jon got on the ferry home
he realised he had left the eggs onto boil which were meant for their
lunch, leaving Jon to wait on his own he dash off home to find a very
mangled saucepan and egg all over the kitchen.
He volunteered for the Samaritans, and helped a friend with his restaurant
business and became the musical director of the marching band the Wight
Legionnaires, the band would play at all the local carnivals and every
year would travel to Deauville in France as part of the twinning association
on Bastille day, on one occasion George was presented with a medal!
in recognition of the bands service to Deauville from the mayor.
He loved travelling, he loved life...
