Kenneth Sharratt (25 Sep 1925 - 30 Mar 2016)

In loving memory of Kenneth Sharratt who sadly passed away on 30th March 2016. Husband of the late Audrey and father to Michael

FUNERAL TRIBUTE and Eulogy

My Father Ken, Kenneth Samuel Sharratt was born on 25th September 1925, to Albert and Maud Sharratt. He was born in Long Ford Coventry, along with his Older brother David, to a forman and foundry man, who made patterns for casting metals. This was hard physical work for his father but this was the norm.

They lived in a small family house with a reasonable size piece of land. His father had a keen interest in gardening inherited from his father. This meant that he enjoyed spending time growing plants and vegetables and this allowed him to feed not only his own family well, but also sell enough to provide for a family holiday to the seaside. This love of gardening obviously rubbed off onto Dad as he gardened for all his life, up until a few months before he passed away. Dad’s early passion was also vegetables. He had a large allotment in Coventry at one time where he too used to feed the street! His real favourite was more in the flowers line and he loved a traditional English garden with pristine borders full of bedding plants. His great love was to grow chrysanthemums of all sorts and sweet peas, which he used to decorate the house for Mum.

He was an intelligent man with a deep interest in Engineering, his favourite subject area being that of traditional steam, and a love of steam engines of all sorts. For his 70th birthday we bought him a train driving lesson at our local park with a small gauge narrow line which he thoroughly enjoyed.

His father and mother died in 1941, which forced him to be extremely independent, however he had a great deal of support from his Aunties - a formidable group of 8 ladies. When just married he and mum lived with his Auntie Annie for some time, prior to being able to afford their own place to rent, something which has become the norm again today.

He was educated at John Gulson Grammer school, where he matriculated at 14, with excellent marks in mathematics and engineering drawing, history and english. This allowed him to be apprenticed to Coventry Gauge and Tool as a Toolmaker earning the princely sum of 11/4d per week - a proper profession and one which would give him a protection in the war years.

Ken like all young men, was interested in meeting girls, and the best way to do this was learning to dance, which is how he met Mum, and this would become a favourite pastime for them in the war time and long afterwards. Ken was called away to war at the finishing stages and was sent to Palestine where he was in the REME mending army vehicles. However, when stationed for R and R in Cyprus he was able to acquire material which once sent home ensured that Mum would have a silk wedding dress….. which she made herself.

A practical side was in both sides of our family.

They married just after the war finished in 1948, achieved 65 Years of happy marriage, a very rare achievement and one recognised by the queen!

Throughout their early years together they spent much time travelling around the country on bike and train, but also enjoying the sports cars of the time, with fiends. The love of ones like the three wheeled Morgan led onto a love of Motor sports in general, and F1 in particular. Both were keen followers of the Coventry Brandon Bees Speedway team, which they attended along with his Brother Dave and Wife. He could be described as an “early petrol head”!

Within a few years dad progressed from the shop floor into the offices…. This career path enabled him to buy his own small house in Coventry of which he was very proud. Here he honed his skills in DIY which continued for most of his life.

When I was 14 my father had the opportunity to move to the south coast to become a factory manager for Coventry Gauge. This transition of moving from Coventry to West Moors would be his final home, where he lived for over 45 years. Continued hard work and success would eventually lead to being the Engineering Director of Coventry Gauge and tool - not a bad climb for an apprentice.

Mum had an impressive array of Cook books, and kitchen gadgets – if it has been made Mum had one.

Dad’s garage is the equivalent - a tool shop wonderland. If one exists….. it is likely that there is one in the garage, from small screwdrivers to a lathe. Just what do you need 4 workmates for? Christmas Cribs could be made in Quantity, Bird feeders were always available. Tables, chairs, Cutlery boxes, jewellery boxes, dresser units, built in wardrobes were just a few of the things that were made, and all to a high degree of precision.

He and mum were often to be found at the centre of parties, and were extremely convivial. He was a founding member of the Local Ringwood Wine club, a subject that he had a great deal of interest in. he gained a good deal of both practical and theoretical knowledge of wine, and spent several years on tours of the continent in cellars and vineyards learning more about the art.

Dad loved his granddaughters and when we left them with Mum and Dad for some quality time in summer holidays they would often take them out to the beach and local amusement parks which the girls remember with affection to this day. He was very proud of his granddaughters and especially so when Great Granddaughter Aveline was born, this required an immediate purchase of a Merrythought Teddy Bear, even if it was bigger than she was.

These thoughts are not just mine though

Some words form a former neighbour……….

Ken and Audrey were both profoundly proud of their Family and devoted a considerable amount of time and energy to ensure that their time together was both enjoyable and memorable.
They both had strong interest and involvement in the immediate community of our small cul-de-sac and also the wider community of West Moors, Dorset. Audrey`s culinary abilities were renowned, (and enjoyed), whilst Ken`s patience, and skills, at ``making things`` provided him with numerous projects requiring many absorbing hours in his garage-workshop. They also worked tirelessly together each year on their garden so that it not only looked beautiful but also provided some edible crops.
People like Audrey and Ken make the world a better place. They were “givers” not `takers` and as such made a positive contribution to the lives of all of those people they came into contact with.
It was a big shock to Dad when Mum really started to get ill, and when she final but quite quickly dies 2 years ago, he was completely heart broken. He missed Mum terribly, but being a practical and pragmatic man soldiered on as best he could….. learning to cook, clean wash his clothes and even Iron…… He was never the same man again, as his spark for life seemed to have gone.
He was diagnosed with many illnesses over the years – A couple of Heart attacks, Bowel Cancer, and other more minor issues, but he was a strong man. He was however diagnosed of lung cancer in November, and in January told me of his wish to move closer to be near us. In February he moved up to stay with us and his illness progressed rapidly. In his final days he declined rapidly and died peacefully in our local hospice.
HE will be missed….