Roy Brooker ROY Brooker (94) lived for 67 years at Moorings in The Pri- ory, East Farleigh. Maidstone born, he began
work as a quantity surveyor. He joined the architects depart- ment of KCC before moving on to work for English Timber Supply Co. and subsequently timber merchants E. J Felton & Partners in Sandwich. Petrol rationing linked to the Suez cri- sis made travel problematical and Roy re- turned to KCC, staying until retire- ment as sen- ior admin officer in the architects de- partment. Son Graham
said: “My father was single- minded and always focused on doing things properly. He was involved in the East Farleigh Sea Scouts and ran them for a few years. He also spent several years as chairman of the East Farleigh Parish Council and member of the parochial church council. He had a real public service ethic and a sub- stantial involvement with the union Unison and their Associ- ation of Retired Members.” Roy was married to Madge (“Bunny”) for 37 years until her death in 1979, and subse- quently to Jean who sadly died soon after. During his marriage to Bunny he was a Sunday night regular at theWalnut Tree in East Farleigh and a member of both the YMCA Tennis Club in Loose and Old Time Dancing Club atWeavering. Roy leaves a son, daughter in
law Anne, granddaughters Helen and Rachel and great- grandson Evan.
Brian Dunn BRIAN Dunn (63) lived for the last 14 years in Staplehurst and had lived the preceding five years in Snodland. He moved to the local area
from Crawley, West Sussex, with his wife, Jane. The couple worked in the retail sector and eventually established their own company, based in Staple- hurst. Jane Dunn said: “Brian was
born in Twickenham and had lived in Crawley, West Sussex, until moving to Kent. His work involved travelling round Kent, Sussex and Surrey but he found time for other interests. “He loved fifties and sixties
music like Elvis and Duane Eddy and watching rugby, cricket and football. “He was a happy, caring, all-
round great guy. An example of his caring was the weekly litter sweep we did together in Sta- plehurst.” Former wife, Barbara, and
Brian raised daughters Paula and Nicola. Jane Dunn said: “He cared for his family, his daughters and granddaughters
24 South
We will remember
Isabelle and Holly, and his sis- ter Chris and mother Nell.”
Freda Gaskin FREDA Gaskin (76) lived for more than 50 years in Goud- hurst Road, Marden. Born Freda Fieldbus in Biddenden, she grew up in Collier Street and started work for Fremlins. She married John, hus- band of 52 years, and raised chil- dren Nick and Serena. Serena said: “My mother was always so positive. She thought of others before herself, even when she was ill. She was al- ways a happy smiley lady. She really loved her grandchildren and she will be sadly missed.” Freda’s passions in life in- cluded gardening and in her younger days she was a regular worshipper at Collier Street Church. As her children grew she worked at Marden Playgroup and later on the magazine counter at Sainsbury’s in Ton- bridge. The job required her to get up at 4.00am, travel in by train and sort out all the papers before the first customers ar- rived.
Freda leaves her widower, children and grandsons Adrian, Sam andMax.
Mick Jenner MICK Jenner (66), who lived most recently in Barming, was known widely throughout the area from runningMJenner and Son, Building Services, for more than 25 years. His previ- ous homes were
in
Melville Road, Maid- stone, where he grew up, and Grey- stones Road, Bearsted. He ran his company with son Steve, who said: “My dad was born locally and his work was his hobby. He
did lots of jobs, includingwork- ing in a butcher’s, taxi driving, delivering paraffin on a local round, delivering milk and painting and decorating. “He did the painting and dec- orating in the afternoon when he delivered milk in the morn- ing andMJenner and Son grew out of that work when I joined him.”
Steve added: “My dad was hard-working, genuine. What you saw was what you got. He was respected for his work and it satisfied him that a lot of cus- tomers came from word of mouth or repeat business. He lived to work; he hadn’t had a holiday in 18 years. “When he lived in Bearsted
he had captained the darts team for The Bell pub. He gave a lot to charity, including the Heart of Kent Hospice, which is where he died.” Mick leaves his partner of 25
years, Jenny, his children, Steve and Claire, and grand-children Lauren, Molly, Jessica and Cleo.
Henry Clout HENRY Clout (90) lived locally hiswhole life; even his wartime RAF service included time at Detling. His homes included Ditton, where he was born, East Malling from 1947 to 1972, and Teston until this year when he moved to a care home in Loose. His son Les said: “My dad
was competent, adaptable, hardworking and resourceful. He began work as a fence erec- tor and went on to work for Smedley’s of Barming, Tilling Stevens and the Rootes car plant in town.” Henry followed this with a
stint as a commercial traveller before running a jeweller’s in West Malling until he retired at the end of the 80s. He did book- keepingwork for Baldocks after retirement. Married for 64 years to Do-
reen, Henry was father to Les. A daughter, Gloria, died in in- fancy.
Henry, who was widowed in
2006, leaves his son, daughter- in-law Anne, granddaughters Debbie and Suzie and great-
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grandchildren Harry David and George Henry.
Linda Wiffen LINDA Wiffen (65) worked for 23 years as voluntary services manager of Maidstone Hospi- tal.
Linda retired three years ago
and battled Parkinson’s disease for the final years of her life. Linda’s duties included look-
ing after the care andwelfare of 300 people, recruiting new vol- unteers to work at the hospital and helping to raise thousands of pounds to aid thework of the hospital’s Friends. On retirement from her main
job Linda continued with com- mittee work and held a position on the committee until her death.
Linda, who lived in Lark-
field, was known throughout the local area because of the many people with whom she worked and her willingness to get out of her office and talk about the work she did to groups like the Women’s Insti- tute and students in local schools. She leaves her widower Ray,
two grown-up daughters and three grandchildren.
Bill Sheircliff A STALWART member of Bearsted Golf Club, William (Bill) Sheircliff (75), died sud- denly in William Harvey Hos- pital, Ashford, after a heart attack shortly before Christ- mas. Bill, of Nursery Av- enue, Bearsted, joined
in
1969, was a life member, captain in
2004 and retired from the com- mittee in 2010 after busy years as chairman of social. He was a very active golfer in
men’s, veterans’ and SAGS events. He was a talented swimmer - in his youth he was selected for the Empire Games - and a keen walker. A club spokesman said: “Bill always had a smile and was first to greet you.” Bill and his wife Mary, a past ladies’ captain, recently cele- brated 30 years of marriage. He leaves Mary, two stepchildren (Sarah, Mark) and three grand- children.
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