downsmail.co.uk Richard Woodhouse


TRIBUTESwere paid by local people and on the website of Hollingbourne Parish Coun- cil, to Richard Woodhouse (71). Richard and his wife Sue ran the Woodhouse bed and breakfast business in the village for 25 years. The couple met when they were working as teachers in Kenya. Richard taught geography and had gone to Kenya on a scheme to take British teachers to East Africa. Sue said: “Richard loved long distance


walking and had been on a number of walking holidays. Hewas very knowledgeable andwell-read, he loved opera and theatre. He also had great practical skills including being good at DIY and cooking. He did DIY work for the Save the Children shop in Union Street and had also helped out in the village with these skills. Hewas very generous with his time and willing to help people.” Richard leaves his wife and his niece, Elizabeth.


Malcolm Beaton


MALCOLM James Beaton (71), from Bearsted, died suddenly at home. Born and raised in Plumstead, London,


hewas deaf in his right ear as the result of a doodle bug in WorldWar Two. As a child, Malcolm loved to draw, and had pictures in an exhibition in London where he met the late Queen Mother. He aended Camberwell Art College. In 1968,


Malcolm met his wife, Jean, when working as art editor for a publishing company in London where Jeanwas a PA. They married inWatford in October 1970. For the next 18 months, they lived near


the Kings Road in Chelsea. They moved to Bearsted in 1972, where they raised daughters Hannah and Eve. Malcolm worked for the Kent Messenger


Group as a graphic designer and then for the last 20 years at Leeds Castle, where his duties included security and stewarding. He continued to paint hiswatercolours: some for sale, some as commissions and at least 70 of places he and Jean had visited. Many people will know him as the quiet gentleman often to be seen lier-picking on


the footpath near his home. His family say hewas a quiet, gentle and deeply loving husband and father, looking after Jean over the past four years when shewas unwell. He loved reading, music and listening to the radio – especially foreign stations. He loved history, geography and languages, knowing which part of the world a person came from just by hearing their surname. He had an amazing memory and could identify a city in a film just by a piece of architecture shown for a second or two. Malcolm had become very involved with researching his ancestry, especially relating to WorldWar One andwas very excited about what hewas discovering. He also loved the Bearsted Woodland Trust and all it stands for, and donations have been made to the trust in his memory. Malcolm leaves his wife Jean, daughters Hannah and Eve, and much-loved grandchildren Louie, Emilia and Lucas.


Rev David Muston


THE death has been announced of Rev David Muston (81), who served as Rector of the parish of Otham with Langley from 1983 to 1997. His colleague, Rev


David Bond, who served throughout this time with Rev Muston, said: “David was an exceptionally good parish priest, he liked people and people liked him, he had great sympathy


andwas a very gentle man who could be firm when necessary, but always caring.” He retired from the parish to Bladon in Oxfordshire with his wife Ros. He leaves his wife and two sons, Justin and Jim.


Shirley Town


SHIRLEY Town (80) had lived inWest Malling since 2013, after living in Borough Green for 51 years. Born as ShirleyWeedon in Croydon, she


moved to Loose as a girl andwas educated in the local primary school and at Maidstone Technical School for girls. Shirley began work as an apprentice hairdresser at Prunella’s on Bank Street (there is still a hair and beauty business on the site), and married husband Peter. The couple eventually moved to London, where Peter served in the Metropolitan Police


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before moving back to the local area where he worked as a travelling sales rep. Shirley worked for Novello’s music publishing business and Buerworths legal book business. Shewas mother to


Sara and Louise. Louise said: “My motherwas very musical and sang with Kemsing Singers, who performed locally and counted


television personality Richard Stilgoe among their membership. “She had an enquiring mind and knew a


lot about history. She also loved gardening. During her years of local work, she became a mother figure and agony aunt to lots of her workmates. She always kept a positive outlook and had a joy for life. She even managed to find happiness and contentment in her final days in the Heart of Kent Hospice. “She travelled widely and had been all around the world, visiting New Zealand as well as China and South Africa.” Shirley leaves her husband of 58 years and her daughters.


Kathleen Daniel KATHLEEN “Kassie” Daniel (94) lived in Teston for 24 years, having previously lived in London, Surrey and near Ash. Born Kathleen Godsave in London, she


had worked during thewar as secretary to the manager of Deptford Power Station, a job that meant turning up for work even when bombing raidswere possible. Son Nick said: “My mother remembered


doing shorthand under her desk to avoid falling plaster and once looked out of the window to see a Stuka aircraft fly past.” Kassiewas married to Chris Daniel for almost 60 years, returning to work for the family paper business, Chris Daniel Ltd, when Nickwas about six years old. The move to Teston involved a major downsizing, leaving behind a former coach house with four and a half acres of ground. Nick said: “My parentswent out a lot,


my fatherwas involved in shooting and game-keeping and my motherwent along, taking their spaniel. She had many friends in the area andwas driving until shewas 86. Shewas very resilient, always smiling and happy. “Right up to the very end of her life she


was never the kind of person to complain. One of her neighbours described her as a ‘total lady’.” Kassie, whowas widowed in 2005, leaves


her son, grandsons Gavin, Lee and Sco and great-grandchildrenAustin, Zoey and Jacob.


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Obituaries


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