ERIC WADE (2 Jun 1936 - 9 Dec 2016)

In loving memory of ERIC WADE who sadly passed away on 9th December 2016
EULOGY FOR ERIC WADE

Eric was conceived in Saskatchewan, Canada. His parents and other family members had emigrated there, but Norman and Elizabeth, with their other son, Jack, decided to return to the UK, due to the pregnancy and Norman’s illness.
Eric was born on the 2nd June 1936 in Ashington, Northumberland. Sadly, his father died ten years later with internal injuries sustained from service in the First World War, on the front line in France.
Elizabeth and the boys moved to North Seaton, but Jack soon left home and married Gladys. Eric was now man of the house. He had to grow up very quickly as they survived only on a basic pension. Eric used to sell fizzy pop from a barrow to earn extra money for him and his mum, while Elizabeth took on many extra jobs to make ends meet.
As a lad, Eric enjoyed making and fixing things, as buying anything was way out of his reach. He used to go to his Uncle Jack’s at Amble, who was known as a tough fella, and learned how to sail. Working with wood, he’d also help the fishermen fix and mend their boats at the quayside.
When he was older, Eric joined the local Wansbeck Rowing Club and won many trophies for the club with his sportsmanship, competing in the coxless pairs.
In the early 50s Eric started work at Askington Colliery as a basic colliery worker. He had originally wanted to be surveyor as he had the skills, but couldn’t afford the suit that was needed for the job.
In 1959 Eric moved to the Ladybrook Estate in Mansfield to work at the Mansfield Colliery. Three years later he met Joan Edith Orange on a night out with friends at The Heart of the Midlands Club in Nottingham. A relationship blossomed, filled with nights out dancing, something they both loved.
They were married at Hucknall Church on a cold and windy day on the 30th March 1963. They set up home together in a rented house in Hucknall, but later moved to Rivermead in Cotgrave as Eric had a new job as a surveyor at Cotgave Colliery.
On the 3rd May 1967 their son, Philip was born and the same year the family moved to a larger house in West Bridgeford.
While working at the colliery, Eric began studying for a degree in Management. After graduating, in 1972 he became Assistant Undermanager at the New Bevercotes Colliery in North Nottinghamshire – a highly pressured job.
The family then moved to Forest Road in Ollerton. The bungalow was expensive and needed a lot of work, but Eric and Joan were up to the challenge! At the same time, Joan worked as a dinner lady at the local infants school, as well as Eric’s mother coming down from Northumberland to live with them until she died in 1979.
In 1980 the family went on holiday to Canada to meet their old relations in Vancouver, Saskatchewan and Saskatoon. Eric looked into working out there at the mines in the Northern Territory, but in the end, didn’t fancy it!
In 1983, Eric moved to his final post as Safety Manager at Welbeck Colliery. Surprisingly, it was less pressured than his last job, but subsequent illness led him to take early retirement.
In 1988 he suffered a heart attack. He was taken to Groby Road Hospital in Leicester for double heart bypass surgery, considered pioneering at the time. It was successful and when he was fully recovered, he and Joan enjoyed their retirement. They travelled abroad to Spain, Portugal and Yugoslavia. They also bought a narrowboat, The Apple Poly which they restored to their own specification and used it to travel the waterways of the Midlands and the North.
Some years later, Eric got into smaller sailing boats and joined some boating clubs, but this wasn’t as successful, as he fell in a lot!
At the end of the 90s they took life at a gentler pace and bought a holiday bungalow in Hemsby, Norfolk. They took small sail boats and motor boats on the Norfolk Boards, and this is where they spent most of their summers.
In 2000 their granddaughter, Kirsty was born. This opened up a whole new love of being grandparents. They both loved teaching her about cooking, travelling and took her on small holidays to the bungalow at Hemsby.
In 2008 Eric once again developed heart problems. He had yet another double heart bypass at Nottingham City Hospital and again, it was successful.
Two years later, he and Joan took a Norwegian cruise through the fjords which they both loved.
In 2012 Joan sadly passed away from cancer aged 77. Eric sold the Hemsby bungalow, as it wasn’t the same without his beautiful Joey.
Eric’s health deteriorated and he became increasingly frail. He had numerous spells in hospital with various complaints, but after suffering breathing difficulties he passed away on 9th December from heart failure.
How will Eric be remembered?
If you want something fixing, ask Eric. He will mend, repair or have a spare one in his garage for you! Cars, bikes, boats, tools, lawnmowers, furniture, cookers, hoovers etc. Anything could be fixed and repaired by this logical man.
He wasn’t always the life and soul of the party. More of a homestead builder, rather than an out and out party goer. Not a keen drinker; I only recall seeing him really drunk and disorderly once, and that was because he got drunk on Moonshine, when meeting relatives on a Saskatchewan prairie farm on the 1980 Canada trip. If there was a party, he was the one at the back, making sure it all went smoothly and everyone got home safely.
A most valued, loving and honest man. He could always be relied upon, both at work and at home, to either get a job done or finished. He could be relied upon for information or an opinion, whether trivial or important. He was a guru – everyone at some time has asked Eric for his opinion on some matter.
You may not have liked what he said on the matter, but you knew it was true when you went ahead and did the opposite, and consequently proved him right…in the end.