James McGhee (16 Dec 1943 - 14 Jul 2016)

In loving memory of James McGhee who sadly passed away on 14th July 2016.

My Dad, Jim was born in Paisley in 1943, he originally completed an apprenticeship as a wool grader, but after an eventful chat in a pub discovered that there was more money and adventure to be had as a telephone cable engineer so just like that he changed jobs and his fortunes! He eventually travelled all over and lived in both Germany and for a short while in the Caribbean, he married and had three children and eventually seven fantastic grandchildren.

My Dad had many passions golf was perhaps his first, he loved it, he loved the competition, the exercise , and the social events, anything he tried his hand at he was good at, and never shy about telling you how fantastic he was, he tried pretty much all pub sports, darts, snooker, cards even once coming second place in a tug of war tournament. He swam and passed on that love to us all, he taught his Granddaughter to swim, though she would say not in the most conventional of ways, sink or swim literally, but for him it was one of the essential life skills and joys. Even into his sixties he enjoyed going to the gym, and when golf and swimming became too difficult he took up bowling with the team at Roses in Gainsborough and true to form was fantastic at the sport. He became obsessed not just with the sport but the lovely friends he made along the way. My Dad had friends from his golfing days, his bowling competitions and his most enduring passion, horse racing. For as long as we can remember he studied the racing guides, he knew the trainers, the jockeys, all of the races, he lived for the thrill of studying the horses and watching them race.

Dad had a few guiding principles in life, he would say always stick to the 10 commandments and you cannot go wrong, be kind, avoid conflict, work hard, always try your best and if it's not good enough then so be it, but most importantly my Dad wanted everybody to have fun, he was social and warm hearted he loved a good party and a laugh. His work ethic was amazing, his bravery and strength of character were always part of his independent nature but never more so than in his attitude to MND and all of its debilitating affects on his health, he never quit, not once, he fought until the end to retain his dignity and he achieved that leaving on his own terms, even in death he was determined to be useful and donated tissues to MND research at Sheffield Royal Hallamshire hospital.

There are a million things I could say about my Dad, funny stories I could share but the most important is that he lived life as fully as possible, and that he was loved, truly loved by those that knew him, we are all, family and friends, going to miss him terribly but we will always remember him with a smile.