Peter Denis Garnon (7 Jun 1926 - 21 Mar 2017)

In loving memory of Peter Denis Garnon who sadly passed away on 21st March 2017
Peter Denis Garnon was born in Chelsea on June 7th 1926 , spending his childhood living in Southall with brother Ken and sister Jean through the hard pre-war 30’s . Even at a relatively early age he developed an interest in all things mechanical and spent long hours learning how things worked by dismantling and then reassembling them - although not necessarily always in the right order ! Indeed the family piano never was reassembled at all ! In those early years he and the family spent happy family holidays with his Aunt Iris and Mathew on their farm in Pembrokeshire where he established a lifelong friendship with younger cousin Olwen .
As wartime approached he joined the Air Training Corps , but due to his (then unrecognised dyslexia) and severe colour blindness the RAF decided not to let him loose in a Spitfire ! So his military service resumed in the Grenadier Guards .
It was whilst on leave that Ken introduced him to Hilda Downs at their youth club and that started a romance which led to 62 years of marriage .
After training his unit was due to be sent overseas to join the allied advance on Germany , but the surrender came and his unit was being readied for action in the Pacific , but again the surrender came through in possible anticipation of Peter’s arrival !
Consequently Peter was stationed in post war Germany and he and Hilda continued their romance by letter ; Hilda would read his letters , then correct all the spelling and punctuation errors and promptly return them in a vain attempt to improve his English . It was whilst in Germany that Peter suffered his first episode of pneumonia ; the first of numerous chest problems that affected his health throughout his life .
On leaving the army Peter returned to pursue his lifelong passion for engineering and started his first civilian job at the London Red bus company and attended night school to gain his qualifications . Throughout his working life Peter changed jobs frequently in order to further his career and broaden his experience , working on nuclear submarines , nuclear and hydro electric power stations , navigation systems at the Fairey aircraft manufacturers and British Aerospace Engineering amongst others , he also had a successful spell teaching at night school as he and Hilda who - despite the letters - he married in 1950 and they planned their future life together starting with their first home in Hayes .
The next chapter of Peter & Hilda’s life began with the birth of first Christine and then Martin , and after the purchase of his first car in the early 1960’s and being taught to drive by brother-in-law Alan , the family started their regular family holiday adventures , inevitably breaking down on route . Some were also more memorable than others , such as Peter being knocked out by Christine’s golf swing and on another occasion being tailed through the countryside after a fight with a Hells Angel where he was only saved from serious damage when 8 year old Martin gallantly attacked the Hells Angel !
After those early years in Hayes the family moved to their brand new dream home in Horsham where they lived until 1975 when Peter decided on an abrupt change of career , moving up to Lincolnshire to buy a pig farm , which needless to say brought it’s own share of adventures , which include battling with Martin in a storm in an attempt to stop the roof being blown off the outbuildings , losing the trailer off the back of the car and on another occasion completing a journey with a fully grown pig on the back seat !
Unfortunately farming didn’t work out and reluctantly they sold up and Peter returned to engineering , finding a job , back with BAE and moving to Glenfield in Leicester . Then after a couple of years as Peter continued to suffer problems with his health he took early retirement .
For the next few years he and Hilda enjoyed numerous happy times holidaying in their touring caravan , going away for several weeks at a time to stay in Derbyshire or Yorkshire where they could meet with either Christine & Ralph or Martin & Vonnie who now had given them their two grandchildren Richard and Phillip who have each followed their Grandfather footsteps into branches of engineering which made him very proud . They also loved nearby Bradgate Park , spending hours walking the hills and sitting enjoying the scenery and watching the world go by , and indeed their joint wish was to have their ashes scattered in this their favourite place . They also were regulars at the local over 50’s group where Peter developed a passion for badminton where fellow players found that he was an enthusiastic if not overly mobile partner .
After the caravanning came to an end Peter & Hilda then took there first of several foreign holidays when they joined Christine & Ralph in going to Austria , followed by other trips including Norway and Switzerland , before enjoying wonderful villa holidays with the whole family in the Algarve and Mallorca , again leading to memorable events involving donkeys and the mosquito night of the power cut !
After foreign travel became a bit too demanding , family holidays switched to holiday cottages in Scotland , Wales , Derbyshire and the last one as a family in Somerset .
In 2010 Peter and Hilda celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary with all the family , but within 12 months their health had continued to decline to the extent that they very reluctantly had to go into residential care , where sadly Hilda passed away in 2012 .
Peter’s own health continued it’s steady decline and he eventually succumbed to the inevitable on the 21st . He was a wonderful dad , granddad , brother , uncle, cousin & friend , he'll be sadly missed .