Rtn Eddie Percival Speaker 17-Feb-2011 My Life


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uring this time his dad became seriously ill and his CO recommended that he should be


granted early discharge. It was shortly after this that his father passed away.


ddy now needed to find a new job so he used skills from his army days and became a driver


for Esso Oil Company. Shortly after this he slipped and badly damaged his spine. He was hospitalised and as soon as he was‘ cured‘ and discharged he returned to his job. Unfortunately the back went again and it was recommended that he should have surgery. In 1963 he had an operation and several of the bones in his spine were ‗fused‘ together.


y now Eddy had a family of his own so it was important that he got back to work as soon as


possible. He was no longer able to drive the oil tankers so he took a job as a bus driver. It was not long before he slipped again and once more he put his back out. This signalled the end of Eddy‘s driv- ing career as he had his PVC and HGV licences taken away.


he need to earn a wage was still there so once again Eddy was looking for something to do.


What do all retired ex lorry drivers do? He trained to be a carpenter. This was deemed to be his ‗rehabilitation‘ training but after six weeks he was given his tools and told to get a job. He was only guaranteed to get rehabilitation, and this did not mean he would be given work.


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is first job, with a canny old carpenter (who sussed out in a very short time that Eddy was


NOT a skilled craftsman) was to repair the roof of Stratford Town Hall. This was a job that required a great deal of know-how and craftsmanship, which Eddy did not have, but the experienced carpenter took Eddy under his with the advice to ―stick by me and you‘ll be alright‖. Well, he must have done OK because the Town Hall is still standing and the roof is still there.


ver the entrepreneur, Eddy also did a bit of painting and decorating and then decided that


he would be better off working for himself so he set up his own Property Maintenance Company. From his early beginnings in Hackney he worked his way up to maintaining 17 properties in Covent Garden, where he earned good money due to a regular £300 a week retainer whether he was there or not..


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s with most things, it is just when you think everything is going well, that fate has a way


of pulling you up short.Just as Eddy and his family were about to go on holiday for a well earned rest


he discovered he had a fatty wart on his back. Dur- ing his hospital check a nurse asked him what the ‗thing on his arm‘ was and he replied that he thought it was a ‗birth mark‘. A biopsy was recom- mended and a week later when he went for the re- sults the nurse announced to all present ―I was right. You‘ve got cancer!‖


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shocked Eddy left the hospital, bought 10 cigarettes, boarded the train at Mile End and


by the time he reached Dagenham had smoked the lot .He went back to the Hospital on the next Satur- day where they proceeded to remove some 17 inches of bits from his arm and as he put it ―They‘re still taking bits off from time to time‖. He was dis- charged the following Wednesday and faced the same dilemma that he has faced all his life.


How can I earn a living now that the Ministry of Health has declared me disabled?‖ After all they


only tell you what you cannot do - not what you can do!


n order to get any work at all he had to resort to lying (after all he no job prospects-he was a man


with a bad back and cancer).He did get by, but eventually he had to retire and this was when he began to get involved in Charity Work. It was at this time that his brother in law (President John) recommended that he came along to look at the club he had joined and the rest, as they say, is history. Eddie became a member of the Rotary Club of Hornchurch and Upminster and continues to work hard supporting our club and continuing with his charity work Question time produced a few ribald remarks as members of the club focussed on the early years of Eddie‘s life and wanted to know of his life on the road in the theatre. Two stories that brought a smile to everybody‘s face and a few laughs involved Tommy Trinder who had wrapped the young Eddie in his fur coat and sat him on his knee during an air raid and a story about ‗Corinda‘ who performed with live crocodiles and snakes! This was yet another example of a club member keeping his fellow Rotarians totally entertained by the story of his Life so far. President John gave the Vote of thanks to his friend and brother-in-law and the club showed their appre- ciation in the time honoured way. Thank you Eddy.


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Story by George Larkey


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