Alfred Robert Jenkins (27 Dec 1950 - 21 Mar 2017)

In loving mAlfred Robert Jenkins born 27th December 1950 in Margate to Katie and Alfred. He had no brothers or sisters. Maybe a step-brother in Australia who we never met. Katie wanted to call him Jim but that didn’t happen.

His Mum and Dad ran pubs and clubs, probably where he got his taste for a beer. He got up to all sorts of mischief on his own, climbing on the club roof,

putting beer bottles under the dray lorry wheels, settling fire to the woods, stealing and eating a lot of wagon wheels from the club and being very sick. He could never face a wagon wheel after that. They were bigger in our day!

He went to school at Fort Luton – hated it. After school he got an apprenticeship with Marconi Avionics at Rochester. He enjoyed the work, especially the head up display for aircraft and gained his indentures.

Later he changed to mechanical engineering joining Reed’s paper mill which became Aylesford Newsprint or Auschwitz Newsprint as he called it. For all his jokes he enjoyed looking after the papermaking machines for thirty years. He made many good friends there. In the days before H&S they got up to all sorts, sneaking out for a few beers while on shift, walking about on crane arms and finding hidey holes to sleep when on night shift.

When he was made redundant he went on to cleaning window frames, driving for Ocardo in the snow at Christmas, driving for libraries and even managed a second pension from SCA.

He was married to Tina in the seventies, having two children; James (he got that Jim for his mum in the end) and Michelle. They have been there for Alf and Jane all during his illness.

For leisure, apart from a few beers, he followed F1 and rallying, enjoying his own motorbike for many years, joining his mates to run to Brighton and taking me at 102 mph on the M2. Mr Policeman going the other way did not look pleased. He liked reading and various music, tinkering with mechanical things – he drove a steam engine at Tenterden a couple of times. When Jane had horses he was fond of Twilly and Sprite, but not a keen rider, though he had a go.

He loved his holidays first visiting Spain 24 hours on a coach, after that he braved flying and visited Barvaria, Rome, Pompeii and climbed Vesuvius. He took Jane to Venice to Valentines and even found a gondola on a drizzly evening of the 14th. He sailed a yacht in the Greek Islands with only four days training, enjoying the Rocky Mountains in Canada (Gold leaf free beer and a surprise limo) and cruised the Danube for Jane’s 60th birthday.

He took the caravan to horse trials and other places, holding up the traffic. We were not sure about Saltcoats beside the slaughterhouse but the ‘Mine, Mine’ were funny,have you seen the seagulls in Saving Nemo-my eyeball,my ** and there was a Weatherspoon’s in the town.

He survived prostate cancer six years ago but last April the cancer returned in his bladder and after a long and strong fight it won, taking him on the evening of 21st March. He died at home in Snodland. At least it was dark.

He was never keen on Snodland but after seventeen years it couldn’t have been that bad.

He leaves his son James, daughter Michelle, daughter-in-law Stephanie and grandchildren Aaron and Jessica.
emory of Alfred Robert Jenkins who sadly passed away on 21st March 2017