John was the eldest of the four brothers, me as the baby, Peter and George in the middle plus one sister Anne to Mom and Dad. We all 7 of us lived in a two up, two down row house. Us boys all slept in one bedroom, Anne got the little box room to herself, Mom and Dad had the other Bedroom. I say two downstairs plus a small kitchen but in those days the front room was off limits, kept as the 'best room' for when visitors came. So you can see close proximity was standard practice. We all ate round the dinner table and how Mom prepared full dinner and desserts for all 7 in that tiny little kitchen with a little 4 ring gas stove I'll never know but some of my fondest memories came from that time with us all sitting around the table playing 'Newmarket' which I still play today, when I can, or sitting in a curve around the coal fireplace toasting bread on a fork. We didn't know we were poor but we were happy. I can remember when John was called up to the RAF and when he came home I would take his big blue coat and sit on my bed and polish his brass buttons as I wanted him to look so smart.
In his youth he was a tall gangly guy not at all you thought as athletic but as it turned out he was pretty good. He ended up playing Center forward for Heath Utd., a local Dagenham team. I would spend my pocket money to go see him play. I have seen him score from 20 yds out and as tall as he was. heading goals was a pastime. When he gave up playing he started coaching a youth team and when I was old enough he let me play once and I scored the only two goals in a 4-2 loss, trying hard to make the coach a winner. 


John was never really handy around the house, a talent that he maintained for the rest of his life. The only time I saw him doing anything in the house was painting the ceiling wearing a knitted doll teapot cozy on his head to avoid the paint drips. I did take a picture which unfortunately disappeared over the years. John and Peter moved to cricket and I became the scorer for a number of years and a utility fielder for other team shortages. Eventually all three played together, George was off gallivanting somewhere. John would give me a lift on the back of his Lambretta to the match and to the pub afterward. Those pub days are probably now passed but those years were again some of my happiest years together as a family. John eventually gave me the Lambretta { my first vehicle ) and George ( the handy one of the family) and I repaired it and painted it coffee and cream. 


John moved on and became a success in shipping insurance and without doubt he was the stabling influence in the family taking the reins when Dad passed. He was an inspiration to me as he struggled through some jobs but never lost heart until success came. He was best man at my wedding to Linda, a relationship that lasted sixty years before her untimely death after elective heart surgery. However John found his own Linda in Hazel, I believe on a flight somewhere and entered into a long and successful marriage with two fine daughters.


In conclusion John was a fine, kind, strong, decent, moral, generous human being who I have been proud to call my brother. I only hope there's a wine bar in heaven with an endless supply of Red.