Brian Copeland (27 Nov 1944 - 18 Dec 2015)

I want to thank all those who attended the funeral and wake and have made generous donations to the Alzheimers Society. It has been lovely to share memories of Brian in happier times with so many of his friends both old and new. He will always the life and soul of the party and will be sorely missed.

I met Brian through Carolyn with whom I worked in the late 80s. He was clever, full of life and very capable apart from ballroom dancing. A group of us had ballroom dancing lessons, the highlight of which was going into the pub afterwards and doing the quizz. We were all terrible at the dancing but did win the quizz from time to time !!

It was so cruel that he suffered from Alzheimer's. I saw him regularly throughout his illness. He was gentle, biddable and until just before he died had a heartbreakingly sweet smile for Carolyn. She loved, cherished and cared for him for many years. The day before he died I spoke to him about France, red wine and skiing and I envisage his soul soaring freely above those French Alps.

I don't have the words to express how much I loved Brian. All I can say is:

Bazoomba!!

Thinking of you all in preparation for tomorrow xxx

“Uncle Brian”
The Honess family first met Brian through Jill and Ken around 1977, when Anna, Ian and Niel were all 2 ish. Hilly joined the Somerset Grove babysitting circle and we all became great and indeed lifelong friends. Then along came Rachel, Simon and Peter and a little later James. The youngsters have all grown up as though they were all cousins and shared fantastic times together as the three families enjoyed camping holidays, adventures, particularly in The Lakes and Wales, and numerous New Year holidays where we rented country properties and partied for a week.
“Uncle Brian” was looked up to by all. He was the one who would “fix” the central heating in a lonely farmhouse. He was the one, especially to the Honess’, who coached them in the mysteries of home computing. He was the one who would party for the longest and the loudest. He had the biggest drinks trolley that the world had ever seen.
He also influenced our lives. The children loved Uncle Brian, as did Hilly and I. We admired his sense of humour, his intelligence and ability, his achievements in his work place and within his family. All of which earned our greatest respect. He lived his life to the full and it is a tragedy that he became ill at such a young age.
We will all miss him and the good times we shared.

“Uncle Brian”
The Honess family first met Brian through Jill and Ken around 1977, when Anna, Ian and Niel were all 2 ish. Hilly joined the Somerset Grove babysitting circle and we all became great and indeed lifelong friends. Then along came Rachel, Simon and Peter and a little later James. The youngsters have all grown up as though they were all cousins and shared fantastic times together as the three families enjoyed camping holidays, adventures, particularly in The Lakes and Wales, and numerous New Year holidays where we rented country properties and partied for a week.
“Uncle Brian” was looked up to by all. He was the one who would “fix” the central heating in a lonely farmhouse. He was the one, especially to the Honess’, who coached them in the mysteries of home computing. He was the one who would party for the longest and the loudest. He had the biggest drinks trolley that the world had ever seen.
He also influenced our lives. The children loved Uncle Brian, as did Hilly and I. We admired his sense of humour, his intelligence and ability, his achievements in his work place and within his family. All of which earned our greatest respect. He lived his life to the full and it is a tragedy that he became ill at such a young age.
We will all miss him and the good times we shared.

Thanks for the fun times. Good-bye , old friend.

A great friend. I remember good times at University and in London in the sixties and seventies.
Brian tampered with my mini on my wedding day and the bonnet would not close. We left the reception and he met us up the road with his toolbox and fixed it!
Fond memories.

In memory of Brian Copeland

When we were younger Brian was so full of life that it made his latter years doubly cruel. We met at Manchester University in 1962. Apart from the usual undergraduate pleasures the thing that I remember best was the six weeks we spent touring Europe at the end of our three years. Six of us travelled in two cars, one of which was Brian’s mother’s Morris Minor convertible. Brian drove and it reached northern Italy without any major mishaps. The other car belonged to Peter Collinson and was a Ford Prefect. We had problems with the lack of braking in the Ford when going down mountain passes. None of us spoke any German, but we did learn that Bremsen was the German for brakes. Also that the German for a haircut was Haarschnitt. Over six weeks we spent a total of £50 each.
Brian then went to work at Plessey in Liverpool and I went to London. Plessey were a telecommunication company and Brian found out how to phone London by linking together a number of local calls so that there was no long distance charges. Unfortunately, the signal got very weak and we had to shout.
Brian left Liverpool and moved to London to join P&O. We shared a house. P&O had a boat on the Norfolk Broads and we spent a week on the boat drinking and being told to “mind your wash!”. Brian was my best man and married a friend of my wife with whom my wife had shared a flat.
With marriage and then children, our ways parted, but you simply do not forget the great friendship of those early days. It was a privilege to have known him and to have counted him as one of my friends.

When we were younger Brian was so full of life that it made his latter years doubly cruel. We met at Manchester University in 1962. Apart from the usual undergraduate pleasures the thing that I remember best was the six weeks we spent touring Europe at the end of our three years. Six of us travelled in two cars, one of which was Brian’s mother’s Morris Minor convertible. Brian drove and it reached northern Italy without any major mishaps. The other car belonged to Peter Collinson and was a Ford Prefect. We had problems with the lack of braking in the Ford when going down mountain passes. None of us spoke any German, but we did learn that Bremsen was the German for brakes. Also that the German for a haircut was Haarschnitt. Over six weeks we spent a total of £50 each.
Brian then went to work at Plessey in Liverpool and I went to London. Plessey were a telecommunication company and Brian found out how to phone London by linking together a number of local calls so that there was no long distance charges. Unfortunately, the signal got very weak and we had to shout.
Brian left Liverpool and moved to London to join P&O. We shared a house. P&O had a boat on the Norfolk Broads and we spent a week on the boat drinking and being told to “mind your wash!”. Brian was my best man and married a friend of my wife with whom my wife had shared a flat. 
With marriage and then children, our ways parted, but you simply do not forget the great friendship of those early days. It was a privilege to have known him and to have counted him as one of my friends.

A great friend and a great man. Sorely missed.