Graham Urquhart (1 Nov 1938 - 23 Jun 2020)

In loving memory of Graham Urquhart who sadly passed away on 23rd June 2020

Graham was born in Ottery St Mary on 1/11/1938 as the only child of William & Annie, who sadly separated when Graham was a child and as William was in the army serving in India Graham was brought up by his paternal grandmother (Gran) of which he had a very close relationship.
Gran had 7 children of whom William (Graham’s father) was the eldest and some of the younger ones were not much older than Graham and so he always felt he was part of a large family. He also had a cousin nearby, Marian, who was just a year older than Graham and they both went to grammar school together. Graham and Marian spent a lot of time together, helping Gran and climbing trees etc Graham always spoke fondly of his childhood and said it was a very happy time of his life.
After leaving school Graham completed his National Service in the RAF where he spent most his time stationed in RAF Wattisham, Suffolk. He made some great friends in this time and stayed in touch with Mike Hamm who was in the same squadron. They enjoyed many a night out together creating some very fond memories.
In 1960 he met Jennie who also lived in Ottery St Mary and they married in 1963 and lived in Topsham, Devon. They had 2 children, Angus and Fiona born in 1967 and 1968 and 6 grandchildren, Ross, Liam, Holly, Rachel, Cameron and Fraser of which he spoke very proudly of. He also has a great Grandson, George who he adored and a great granddaughter due in September.
Graham worked for the civil service, which required a few family house moves over the years, in 1972 they moved to Dovercourt and then again in 1977 to Leigh on Sea, where the house was the centre of many a family party, particularly at Christmas where Angus and Fiona would have to give up their bedrooms for relatives to stay over, sometimes for 3-4 weeks!!
He retired at the age of 55 and Graham and Jennie were able to enjoy this time doing some amazing trips abroad including China and Sri Lanka which was Graham’s favourite. He also had time to enjoy weekly snooker matches with his nephew Peter.
Sadly, Jennie passed away in 2011 leaving Graham a widower but he was a content man and continued to enjoy his garden, frequent theatre trips, catching up with his friend Ray for a pint or 2 at the pub on a Saturday as well as many coach trips in the UK. He would use some of these coach trips to catch up with family in Devon and spoke most fondly of his meetings with both Marian and Angie. He also really treasured the regular visits to local restaurants with his grandchildren, he always looked forward to trying somewhere new!
Graham was an active and very independent man until Easter this year when he began to feel unwell. Not knowing what was wrong he tried to carry on as normal but unfortunately suffered a heart attack in mid May which he found difficult to recover from. He didn’t know that he an underlying health condition which was preventing him from getting better. This was only diagnosed the week before he passed but he spent his final few days in Fair Haven’s Hospice with Angus & Fiona at his side. The staff here were wonderful and so attentive and a real comfort to both Graham as well as Angus & Fiona, which is why the family have asked for donations to this wonderful charity instead of flowers.