Dudley "Doug" Kirby (5 Jan 1928 - 15 May 2016)

In loving memory of Dudley 'Doug' Kirby who sadly passed away on 15th May 2016. A much loved husband of Jean and Dad and Grandad and Great Grandad.

Total Donations
At 4 June 2016 the total donations including disclosed amounts and gift aid were:
Dorset Air Ambulance- £537.50
RNLI- £373.75
The family would like to thank everyone for their generations contributions and kind messages.

More Thanks
The Kirby family would like to thank the Christchurch McMillan Unit and Marie Curie Cancer Care Nurses for their support during Doug's long illness. Also a special thank you to the Dorset Palliative Care team and our local District Nurses for their professionalism, care and patience. Everyone did their very best to help us manage to keep Doug at home until the very end.

Thank you to Nicholas O'Hara Funeral Directors who provided a thoroughly professional service to our family at a very difficult time.
The funeral service by Chris Antell was exemplary and a very memorable tribute to Doug.

Doug's Story

Dudley James Albert Kirby (aka Doug) was born in Brentford, Middlesex in 1928 to Joseph and Dinah Kirby. Unfortunately, Dinah died after giving birth and Joseph subsequently remarried to Dinah's younger sister Edith who moved from her family home in Bacton, Suffolk to be with her new husband in Wembley.
Doug was a teenager during the war years of air raids and food rationing. He lived with his parents in Wembley where his father was caretaker at the Park Lane School. As a boy he often made visits to his relatives in Suffolk and became close to his uncles and aunties. Doug often fondly mentioned his uncle David, who would take him for rides on his bicycle around the villages near Bacton.
Doug's father and step-mother Edith went on to have two more sons, Alan and Richard, and when Joseph died at the age of 60, Dudley (22) took on many of his father’s family responsibilities.
In the late 1940s Dudley joined the Royal Navy as a signalman to fulfil his national service duties. This was during the unsettled post war period and he sailed on HMS Cumberland, serving in many places such as India and the Middle East.

When he completed his national service Doug knew he wanted to use his natural practical talents and got a job as a trainee mechanic. He enjoyed the work but decided that rather than just fixing engines he wanted to develop his skills and get involved in making and producing things by becoming a tool making engineer.
It took a fair amount of studying and hard work and Doug supplemented his income at weekends as a freelance wedding photographer. This came from his interest in photography and he set up a darkroom in the attic where he could produce wedding albums for clients.
Eventually Doug learnt the skills and qualified as a toolmaker and spent many years working for engineering companies around London. He even went back to work after a short retirement at the age of 65 and he finished his working days designing and installing robotics for an American company. He said that these were some of his most enjoyable work projects.

In family life Doug was a devoted husband to Jean and always supported his sons Stephen and Phillip in their interests. Doug spent many years helping Jean in her role as Cub Scout Leader and also the boys as they progressed through cubs and scouts, football teams and swimming clubs.
Doug's practical skills made him the "go to" person and if he didn’t have the tool for the job he would make one! This was always a source of amusement within the family but everyone was always keen to Make use of such a “handy” person. There was always a car or motorbike being repaired or tuned up in his well equipped garage at the end of the garden.

Doug was a keen maker of trailers which he was always modifying and adapting for various uses including collecting jumble, carrying canoes or camping. He was very adept at welding and metalwork but due to his frequent use of rivets, Doug was dubbed as the “Pop Rivet King” by his brother Richard.
As well as designing and almost single handedly building extensions to two of the family homes Doug also found time for several hobbies including that of swimming teacher and instructor for the Royal Life Saving Society where he built up and ran a successful club in Ruislip for several years.
The most challenging sporting activity that the family undertook was the Devises to Westminster canoe race. Doug and Jean acted as support crew for the boys for 3 years in the gruelling 125 mile canoe marathon.

In later years they moved to Verwood where Doug and Jean found great pleasure in belonging to the local bowling club. They made many good friends and once again Doug channelled his energies into building up the club.
He took on the responsibilities of club secretary and chairman and was always a regular of the ground keeping team and on working and maintenance parties. He used his woodworking skills to design and build a trophy cabinet for the bowling club. Doug also played a key role in starting the Verwood indoor short mat bowls club and served as Team Captain, Chairman and President as the club membership grew.

Although suffering from stomach cancer for several years Doug has been an inspiration to everyone, showing dignity and determination despite his illness.
He carried on his involvement at the two bowling clubs as he gradually prepared his home and his family for the day that he would no longer be there for them.

In conclusion, Doug was a thinker and a doer. A man who's actions spoke louder than his words. He was a problem solver with an independent mind. Throughout his life he learnt and used the skills needed to provide for his family and to help others in a selfless way. Doug got things done!

Many people have said that Doug Kirby will be sadly missed.
Never a truer word was spoken.