Leonard Ricketts

LEN RICKETTS: FUNERAL CEREMONY - WEDNESDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2014, 1PM INTRODUCTION The family would like to thank all of you who have come here today to celebrate the life of Leonard Wilfred Ricketts, better known to his family as “Dad”, “Pop” and “Len” and by his friends and people who knew him as “Len”. My name is Veneeta Singh-Lucas, I am the Wesley Mission chaplain. Although Len told me he went to chapel when he was young, in his later years he had no particular religious leanings and his family have asked me to officiate this mainly secular service. Len was a real Gentle Man, a self-effacing man who never wanted to be any trouble to anyone. Even in the last days of his life, when in a semi-sleeping state, when asked how he was going he would answer “Not so bad”. REFLECTION OF LEN’S LIFE Len was born on 24 March 1927 into a very close-knit family. So close that brothers Wilfred and Sidney Ricketts married sisters Doris and Annie Gibbons. At one time both families lived in the same street in Trehafod, Rhondda Valley, South Wales. Len was the eldest of Wilf and Doris’s three children. Len’s brother Don sadly passed away in 1986, and his wife Theresa and their daughter Kathleen and her family live in Wales. Len’s sister Doreen, her husband Aubrey and their three children are with us today. Doreen, Aubrey, and their daughters Anne and Carolyn and Carolyn’s husband Tony have travelled up from Northern NSW with some of their family, and Doreen’s son Kevin has flown down from Townsville. Len left school at age 14 to work in the mines. During the war, still in his teens, he used to do fire watch at the colliery keeping an eye open for bombers. Only once was the colliery hit, causing some damage. Len didn’t remember much about going to school, but he remembered playing sport and he played cricket for the school. During his school days he was a leader at Treherbert Boys Club, where he took part in a number of sports including boxing. This was the start of his almost life-long love of playing sport. At various times in his adult life he played tennis, badminton, table tennis and squash and in his fifties and early sixties he attended a gym in Cwmbran, South Wales, which was run by two Welsh former rugby internationals, rugby union being his main love as a spectator. During 42 of his last 45 years he played golf, initially at the oldest golf club in Wales, and subsequently in Mackay and Brisbane. Len was a keen golfer, so much so that at one time he had six sets of golf clubs, a mountain of golf balls, and various golfing accessories – including scores of books and instructional videos and DVDs. Len married Muriel, the love of his life, on 28 May 1949 in Treherbert. Just over 4 years later son Philip (Phil) was born and daughter Kathryn (Kath) was born nearly three years later. By this time Len’s parents Wilf and Doris and all three children and their families and Muriel’s parents lived in Treherbert, the adjoining village to Treorchy, home of the world famous male voice choir. Unfortunately Len did not have a Welsh singing voice, but listening to music and to choral singing became one of Len’s passions until the beginning of this year, when his hearing and his interest waned. In his mid-life, Len became interested in photography and was a long term member of the Cwmbran Camera Club. In 1960 Len was successful in his application for a position at the new steel works at Llanwern in Newport, South Wales. Len, Muriel, Phil and Kath moved to the new town of Cwmbran in December 1960. Len could sometimes be stubborn and set in his ways, sometimes he was extremely private. The first that Muriel, knew about the job at the Newport was AFTER he was successful. Early on in their new life in Cwmbran Muriel, who was the loveliest, most gentle woman you could imagine, suddenly lost it and grabbed the nearest available “weapon”, which happened to be an uncooked leg of lamb and threw it at Len. She was furious that he hadn’t consulted her about the job and she had left all her friends behind in Treherbert. (Phil did not discover this until earlier this year, when Len was reminiscing). Fortunately it wasn’t long before Muriel made more long-lasting friendships in Cwmbran. After a while at in his new job Len was promoted to the planning office to become a Departmental Planning Engineer where he started shift work. One of his colleagues, who became one of Len’s foremen, was George Johnson. George later moved to Australia, and they lost touch. Len had a wonderful surprise many years later, whilst living in Brisbane, to receive a call from George, and they subsequently met many many times. George and his wife Eileen, who have travelled from the Gold Coast today, visited Len at the various hospitals, palliative care, and then at Parkview many times. Their visits and friendship meant a great deal to Len. Phil and Ann, and Kath and Graham will forever be grateful to George and Eileen for their fellowship and friendship with Len. Len and Muriel were delighted when Phil and Kath were both married in 1975. To Len and Muriel’s joy, their first grandchild Mark was born to Kath and Graham in 1980, and they were further delighted when four more grandchildren followed. Sarah was born in Mackay in 1983, David in Ascot in 1984, Gareth in Mackay in 1985 and Lynn in Bath in 1988. When he first arrived in Parkview in June this year, Len was asked to complete a questionnaire about his life, hobbies, and interests. When asked what was important to him he answered “Family, just the family”. He always wanted the best for his children and grandchildren. He loved them unconditionally and was so proud of all of them. Kath, Graham and Mark emigrated to Mackay in 1982 and surprisingly, as they had never been outside of the UK before, Len and Muriel visited them a couple of times. The family ties were so strong that Muriel even went by herself when Gareth was born. Len could not go due to work commitments. In June 1992, to their infinite sadness, Len’s life, along with those of his children and grandchildren, changed forever when Len’s beloved wife Muriel passed on. By 1993, five of Wilf and Doris’s grandchildren had moved to Australia, and Len’s sister Doreen and Aubrey followed in 1996. Phil and family visited Len in Cwmbran in 1998, and subsequently persuaded him to move to Australia. He arrived in 1999, and the plan was that Len would stay 6 months of the year in Mackay with Kath and family and six months with Phil and family. Because of the heat in Mackay, he returned to Brisbane early, and his time in visits to Mackay reduced as the years progressed. In March 2010 Len was thrilled to attend the first wedding of one of his grandchildren as Gareth married Tegan in Mackay. In 2013 Len was delighted to attend the weddings of his two other grandsons, Mark to Roxy in March in Brisbane and David to Jess in September on Bribie Island. Len was a tough old so-and-so. As one of the carers at Parkview emotionally said the week before he passed: “he’s a fighter”. Len was remarkably fit until about 18 months ago and he was mobile until March this year, when he went into hospital for a few weeks before being transferred to Prince Charles palliative care. In June this year the family found a home for him at Parkview. Len never felt comfortable in a crowd, and being a private man sometimes found it difficult to socialise. “Dad” did not want to be here initially, he just wanted to be at home with the family … but he subsequently admitted that Parkview was the best place for his care AND he found, much to his surprise and delight, that many of the nurses, carers and ancillary staff and some residents became friends. Despite all the family’s and staff’s best efforts he stubbornly refused to join in with the many group activities at Parkview, though he enjoyed the one-to-one contact with the carers, nurses, Tracey the music therapist and with some residents. Len made three visits back home from Parkview, including one when David and Jess were up from Melbourne and they brought their dog Meg for a visit. Two weeks before he passed he went home with Phil, Ann and Lynn for a fish and chip lunch, which he thoroughly enjoyed. Two days later Phil took him for a coffee to his now-favourite coffee shop at the leisure centre at Wheller Gardens. He would only stay for a coffee and a cake, and maybe for 5 minutes afterwards, but he loved his visits there. Phil would take him in the wheelchair to and from the coffee shop, often taking a detour down by the flower beds or around the outer ring road of Wheller Gardens, and “Dad” always said how lovely it was. Apart from very few occasions, generally through all his illnesses he had been pain-free. In his last week he would occasionally find it painful when he was moved, but the staff managed his pain, and made him comfortable. Len passed away peacefully in his sleep on Monday 3 November 2014, with Kath by his bedside. His family and friends will miss him deeply. The family are truly thankful that the last four and a half months of his life was spent in a loving and caring environment, where he made many friendships, and where he was well liked. To quote one of the carers “a beautiful man”. The family know they could have not asked for a better place than Parkview and a better group of people to have had care of Len. They cannot thank the staff of Parkview enough.