John Goldsmith Stannard (10 Jul 1932 - 31 Mar 2020)

In loving memory of
John Goldsmith Stannard
who sadly passed away at Medway Maritime Hospital
on Tuesday 31st March 2020
Aged 87 years.
He will be deeply missed by his loving wife, family and friends.
There will be a Private Funeral Service for immediate family
only, during this current climate.
If you wish to remember John from the
comfort of your own homes
we will be celebrating his life on
on Wednesday 15th April 2020 at 9.00 am.
Family flowers only, donations if desired in memory of John
for 'Alzheimer's society'
may be sent c/o John weir Funeral Directors
130-132 High Street,
Rainham,
Kent.
ME8 8AR
or made online via this tribute page

Biography:
John was born in Ipswich in July 1932 and lived at 26 Sidegate Lane on the outskirts of Ipswich with his Dad -Henry John Samuel Stannard, a Licensing Manager for Ipswich Town Council and Mum Ester Stannard (ne Scott).
John worked hard at school and got a scholarship to go to the Ipswich School. He started playing piano at home before taking organ lessons at St Johns Church. We still have his notebook listing the organ stops for all the local churches which is not such popular past time these days. So started John's lifelong interest in playing the church organ.

His father died aged 70 at home in his sleep in 1948 when John was 16. John had just started an apprenticeship to be a Power Engineer working at the Cliff Quay Power Station.
He met his future wife to be, Win at a Saturday Dance at the White Horse Hotel in Ipswich in 1954. Win was training to be a nurse at the time and working at Angelsea Road, Hospital. They got engaged in 1955 but John was called up for his National Service, serving 18 months of his two years in Germany. Whilst he served in the Royal Engineers postcards he sent at the time seemed to include reference to sailing trips on various German lakes which must have been quite adventurous given he never sailed again.

Just before finishing National Service John married Win in August 1956 at Hundon Church in Suffolk and they honeymooned in Folkestone. They would have celebrated 64 years of marriage this year.

They bought their first house in Ipswich and 18 months later moved to Swindon. John has always been keen on DIY, re-decorating their Swindon home within 6 months and converting his first car a pre war Morris saloon into a shooting brake with a wood panelled boot.

Other moves followed as John's career with the CEGB progressed, moving to Reading where Richard was born at Battle Hospital in May 1960 and Chris followed in 1962. The family then moved to Ramsgate in 1962 where John worked at Richborough Power Station.

John's mum died in February 1961 of asthma brought on by the well known smogs of the time.

In 1967 Dad transferred to Kingsnorth Power Station and the family moved to Fairview Avenue where he joined the newly built St Matthews Church.

The families final move was to Bredhurst in 1969 where John spent much of his life outside of work either at Church or at home head under a car, working in the garden, repairing broken electrical equipment or undertaking his latest DIY project.

St Matthews played a major part of Dads life from 1967 onwards, he
• played the organ,
• became choirmaster,
• an active member of Wigmore Mens Fellowship,
• managed the collection of paper and cardboard for the church,
• hall manager and
• obviously maintenance man including climbing on to the roofs.

We have fond memories of barn dances, beetle drives, harvest suppers and of course the Christmas extravanga fete which always involved creating a magical journey to see Santa out of paper decorated in accordance with the years theme.

Many of Dads DIY projects can still be seen at Hunters Crest, tribute to their engineering and Dads resistance to replace anything that was perfectly serviceable. Projects include the conservatory (although the door has been replaced many times), the brown and yellow upstairs cloakroom, parquet flooring to the hall, stud walls and quite few replacement windows.

I recall one of Dads attempts to remove condensation from the huge downstairs bedroom window which involved drilling holes in opposite corners of the window and blowing hot air through it with a hair dryer. This was remarkably successful until the pressure in the window caused the internal glass to explode. Nobody was hurt but there were clearly lessons to be learned if Dads mission to conserve world resources was to continue.

Dad was ahead of his time and was a true advocate of reuse and recycling. His obsession with collecting paper and card for the church was matched by his collection of bits of wood, electrical components and a multitude of other things that will come in useful one day. These were stored in the garage awaiting their day. Some did indeed come into service justifying their retention, others would have been if they could have been found, many however are still waiting.

Dads most notable work achievement was during the great storm of 1987 when the national grid in the South East failed as result of disrupted power lines. Power was lost to millions of homes. Three power stations attempted a black start where no external power supply is available to get the Power Station working. Dad was in charge of Kingsnorth and it was the only station to succeed in the black start returning power to homes and businesses in the region. This was commemorated in a short film which shows Dad on the telephone and someone pushing a button. Apparently, there’s a lot more to it!!!

Dad retired in 1989 after which he devoted much of his time to the Church.

Dad was diagnosed with dementia in 2013 which coupled with hearing loss proved challenging for him and those around him. He lived at Hunters Crest with Mum as his primary carer right upto October 2019. After which he moved to Platters Care home in October 2019 where the staff could provide the 24/7 attention that he then required.

Dads Legacy:
One son recently retired from a successful career in the Power Industry;
One son working across Local Authorities trying to get the world to reuse and recycle more.
Who knows what his four grandsons will do!
Looking at all the cards received Dad also leaves many fond and grateful memories with so many people we would like to thank everyone for their kind thoughts and support.