OSAmag81

T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 7 9
in touch with his clients.
In his spare time he was a drummer in a
band, he enjoyed all sorts of music ranging
from Buddy Holly to “Last Night at the
Proms” – hence the choice of music for his
funeral service.
He met his wife to be, Jan, when he was 21
and she was still at school. It was at a
ballroom dancing school in Walthamstow
- no internet dating in those days. One
evening at the dancing school, David bet
his friend (another Old Stationer, George
Bigby) half a crown that he would dance
with the girl in the flowered dress first and
that is how their 50 year relationship
started. Jan went off to teacher training
college but they continued to see each
other and got engaged on Jan’s 21st
birthday and married the following year.
They bought their first house in London.
Jan soon found out that, while David was
very good at drawing and painting pictures,
his DIY skills were sadly lacking. He
managed to wallpaper their bedroom
hanging the pattern of the paper upside
down. Jan thought that this was a cunning
plan on his part so she wouldn’t ask him to
do any more decorating. It worked!
They thought that London was not the
place to start a family so they moved to
Colchester in 1972 whilst he was working
for GEC. The following summer, Russell
was born and then Lara two years later. As
the children grew up he was involved in
their activities: governor at their schools, a
keen fundraiser for the Scouts, a track
judge at Russell’s athletics meetings and
even attempted horse riding with Lara.
He was a real family man and was very
proud when his children graduated and
very happy when they were both married.
He was full of pride when he gave Lara
away wearing his Manx kilt. He introduced
his daughter in law, Bee, to the joys of
football and his son in law, Matthew, to
gardening. In 1996 he moved jobs to
Norwich working for Her Majesty’s
Stationery Office as UK Trade and Foreign
Credit Controller. Although he liked his
job, he always fancied being a full time
beer drinker, aka a publican – the dream of
many an Old Stationer. So when he saw an
advert for a relief manager at a Greene
King pub in Norwich, he decided to apply.
He got the job and “The Ten Bells”
became his home from home. As David
wrote in the Old Stationer in the winter of
1999, “I have a part interest in The Ten
Bells in Norwich and if any Old Boys are
in the neighbourhood, please drop in”. In
2003 he retired and returned to live in
Colchester. In 2007 they moved to Port
Erin, Isle of Man back to his Watterson
family roots. By this time Matt and Lara
had given David two grandsons, Charlie
and Russell, and the family moved to live
on the island in 2011.
The funeral service was held on 19
November 2014 at the Church Hall near
the Douglas Crematorium. The service
was opened by Gordon Cringle (a friend
of the family) with a tribute to David read
by his daughter in law, Bee. Two of David’s
favourite pieces from the Proms were
played: Jerusalem, followed by The Lord’s
Prayer and Rule Britannia ended the
service.
Perhaps David is best summed up by his
class-mate Richard Woods, “He was a nice
chap”.
Tony Moffat
KENNETH GEORGE
HORTON 1930-2014
A Service of Remembrance and
Thanksgiving for the life of Kenneth
Horton was held at Kemnal Park
Cemetery and Memorial Gardens was
held on Wednesday 17th December 2014.
The hymn sung was, ‘Morning has broken’
by Cat Stevens. Tributes were given and
the Bible Reading was from St. John 14,
verses 1-6. The Music was ‘Theme of the
Dam Busters’ Eric Coates on entry and
the Exit Music was ‘Stranger on the
Shore’ Acker Bilk.’
Mrs T. Horton
49 Longdon Wood, KESTON
Kent BR2 6EN
l1& February 2015
Dear Geraint
Thank you for getting in touch, I hope the
enclosed makes sense and is correct.
After leaving Stationers’ circa 1948,
Kenneth tried various forms of office
employment, including Shipping and
Forwarding where he met his wife Thelma.
They married June 1954 and celebrated
their 6011k Anniversary 2014.
After Shipping and Forwarding he
realised he needed a job with more
prospects to support a wife, so joined
Barclays Bank in 1953 Southgate/
Cockfosters, until he transferred to the
City, Newgate Street, where he stayed till
retirement.
Yours sincerely
Thelma
HARRY ROY SPiNKS
1924-2015
The funeral service for Harry Spinks was
held at Enfield Crematorium on the 22nd
January, 2015.
The hymn sung was, ‘Eternal Father,
strong to save, Whose arm hath bound the
restless wave,’.
During the Service there was a family
tribute, Prayers of Penitence and and the
the reading of Psalm 23 and verses from
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