John Clarke (30 Jan 1940 - 7 Oct 2024)

John was born on 30th January 1940, in the London borough of Paddington, later his family moved to Wateringbury where he remained until moving out as an adult. As the Second World War was intensifying, so were the air raids. His mother, wanting to raise the children in safety went to stay with family in Cornwall until it was safe to return home.

Later on in life Cornwall was a place that was very dear to John, as he would return to spend time holidaying, exploring the beauty the county continues to offer to this day.

John always had a positive work ethic, working on local farms as a child, eventually completing an apprenticeship as a type setter and securing employment in London as a typesetter for national newspapers.

A family man, John had four children from his first marriage: John, Natalie, Dean, Zoe as well as a stepson Ricky.

Keeping busy was always Johns mantra and he would enjoy spending spare time painting and drawing, favouring landscapes mostly. The other past times he enjoyed included: fishing, gardening, building train sets, going to auctions, visiting steam train stations and restoring antiques clocks and furniture with painstaking precision.

If a job was worth doing, it was always worth doing it well!

John met Marcia in the 1980’s and after building a strong friendship the couple were married in the June of 1991 in Barbados, where his wife, Marcia was born. He became the stepfather to marcia’s children, Julian and Simone.
Many special memories were created on family holidays to Barbados, as this was a very special place to John, who loved to visit such places of beauty like the “Flower Forest” and the varying beaches that have the whitest sand and the clearest ocean, where later in life John would indulge in his passion of sea fishing once again.

There were many happy times, such as large parties that brought together family and friends, all to the music that John enjoyed collecting and playing, making each party a success!

John passed away after a relatively short time spent in hospital, in the afternoon on 7th October, he will be forever missed, loved and remembered.