Don Gunnell (26 Apr 1931 - 23 Jan 2019)

In loving memory of Herbert Donald 'DON' Gunnell who sadly passed away on 23rd January 2019

Don Gunnell – his life

Well, what can we say about Don Gunnell and his life?

We can say he was a big man in every way - standing 6ft 2in tall and weighing over 17st in his prime, he was a big man with a heart to match who would talk to anyone and was constantly joking.

Proud brother to Frank, Pauline and Christine, proud husband to Betty, proud father to Michael, Carole and Donna, proud Grandfather to Marie, Paul, David and Matt and proud Great Grandfather to Jack, Charlotte, Lincoln, Kacey and Ellie – he will be missed by his family and by all who knew him.

Looking back over his life, we know he joined the Royal Engineers in 1948 at the age of 17 and he served for seven years before he left the Army at the age of 24 in 1953.

We know that he went out to Egypt, parachuting in with his comrades, prior to the Suez Crisis. While out in the Middle East he adjusted to desert life, remembering always to check his army boots for scorpions in the morning.

In the Army, his driving skills and his ability to fix engines of any kind were quickly recognised and he ended up as a staff driver to Colonel Orchard of the Royal Engineers.

Once back in England, Don wasted little time in marrying his childhood sweetheart, Betty Barker, in October 1953, aged 22, at the Church of St Peter and St. Paul in Ingoldmells, a little village four miles from Skegness, where they made their first home.

Their happy union lasted over 65 years and produced three children and many happy memories. First Michael came along in 1955, followed two years later by Carole and then nine years later by Donna.

Back in post-war England times were tough and rationing was still in force, although it finally ended after 14 years in 1954, but jobs remained scarce and hard to come by.

Don was very mechanically minded and could turn his hand to understanding or mending anything mechanical or electronic. So he joined Rank Bush Murphy, working on assembling radios and TVs at the company’s factory in Skegness, cycling there and back twice a day in all weathers.

He also had a job mending the slot machines on the sea-front in Ingoldmells and, in his spare time he refereed football matches in the local Lincolnshire league – once his playing days were cut short by a broken kneecap.

In those days he refereed a local lad who went on to become a great Liverpool and England International goalkeeping legend, Ray Clemence, who won 61 caps for his country, and Don became great friends with his father.

But the writing was on the wall for Rank Bush Murphy as a swathe of cheap Japanese imports put an end to a once great business that had employed thousands of people around the UK.

So Don, who by now was living with his family in Skegness, decided to make a career change and joined the Co-operative Insurance Society, selling insurance products in an area covering eastern Lincolnshire. He quickly excelled at this and in 1971 was promoted to area sales manager.

The only problem was that his new area was in the East End of London in a territory comprising Barking, East Ham, Upton Park, West Ham and Canning Town. Hardly the sort of environment that he and the family were used to after many years in rural Lincolnshire!

However, always up for a challenge, down to London they all went, living initially in a three bedroom flat over a busy road in the centre of Barking.

The contrast between the clean air of the Skegness seaside and the much dirtier air of the busy London streets could not have been greater, but everyone pitched in and soon settled into their new lives.

Within three years of moving south, however, Don, Betty and Donna had relocated to the more leafy climes of Carshalton in suburban Surrey, leaving the much older, and now independent, Michael and Carole to look after themselves in the Barking flat.

Don and Betty quickly took to life in Carshalton, positioned as it was on the outskirts of London and only a short drive from some of Surrey’s famous beauty spots, including Box Hill - one of their favourite haunts which provided views as far as the English Channel.

Don kept very busy while in Carshalton and in his spare time worked for hours on his allotments growing all manner of award-winning fruit and vegetables, and cycling there and back before setting off for a day’s work in the insurance market.

He was also an avid antiques collector, particularly of tea pots of all ages, and he was especially proud of his famous Bargeware teapots.

However, Don’s health was deteriorating around this time, and the second of two heart attacks saw him take early retirement from the Co-op Insurance Society before the age of 60 – he always claimed with some justification, that he had spent over 25 years being retired!

As they entered their twilight years, Don and Betty had a hankering to be closer to their roots and so, in the late 1990s, they sold up in Surrey and moved back to Boston in Lincolnshire to be nearer to family, including Betty’s surviving bothers Pete and Basil, and their many friends.

Here he was able to enjoy one of his other passions, which was for music and he bought a Yamaha organ which he taught himself to play. He could often be found playing and singing to the tunes of his hero Klaus Wunderlich, with his much-loved cat, Perce, sitting lovingly on his shoulder.

His love for football remained undiminished throughout his life, and before he became too infirm, he would spend his spare time cutting the grass and drawing in the white lines on the football pitches at the bottom of their garden that the local teams used to play on.

It was here in Boston, due to his sadly declining health, that Don finally ended his days at the grand old age of 87 - but leaving behind a wide-reaching legacy and many happy memories that will be long remembered by all who knew him.