downsmail.co.uk Joan Benne


JOAN Benne (88) lived for 54 years in Coxheath and had previously lived in Bearsted and Staplehurst. Born Joan Houilibecq on the island of Guernsey shewas evacuated to Dorset and Lancashire before returning once the islandwas reclaimed from the Nazis. Joan met her husband of almost 65 years, Roy, when she worked in a café on Guernsey, and the couple originally moved to the


Maidstone area to live with his parents in Bearsted. Joanwas mother to Paul, Alan, Peter and


Neil and worked as an orderly at Linton Hospital for 22 years. Roy said: “Joanwas devoted and selfless,


she dedicated her life to looking after her family and being the best mother to her sons and best grandmother to all eight of her grandchildren. “Aswe had the time and opportunity later


in our lives,we travelled all over the world, and Joan had been to see our eldest son in New Zealand nine times aswell as making trips to places like Hawaii, India, Singapore and mainland USA. “We also travelled on our own closer to


home in countries like France.” Joan leaves her husband, three of her sons


(son Peter pre-deceased her), six surviving grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.


Doreen Frost


DOREEN Frost (64) lived the final 20 years of her life in Coxheath and had lived in the local area all her life. Born Doreen Funnel, in Charing, she


moved to Yalding as a very young girl and later lived in Nelestead. Doreen’s working life included time spent working in a shoe shop in Maidstone and about 30 years working for ICI in Yalding, where she started off in the production department before moving on to office work for the company. Doreenwas married for about six years


earlier in her life but spent over 20 years with partner Ted Homewood. Ted said: “Apart from our life locally and


all the thingswe did, Doreen’s big passion was travelling. She had been to many places andwe had cruised and flown all over the world; as far away asAustralia and to exotic places including Bali, Hawaii, the Galapagos Islands and the Far East. Amongst her favourite tripswas a visit to Bora Bora.” Doreen leaves her partner and her sister Freda and brother Tony.


SusieHoare HOLLINGBOURNE’S Susan “Susie” Hoare, who lived in Hadley Gardens,was known for her involvement in village life. She worshipped regularly at All Saints'


Parish Church andwas the sister of the Reverend Robin Gill; a local clergyman who is currently a member of the team working in the Leeds and Hollingbourne Benefice and


whowas at one point the Priest in Charge. Susie’s funeral took place at Saint Margaret’s Church, Hucking.Achurch bar- becue which had been scheduled for the same daywas cancelled as a mark of respect.


DouglasGrist


DOUGLAS “Doug” Grist (86) lived the final years of his life in Siingbourne but had lived in the Maidstone and Medway areas since hewas a small boy. Born in Bexhill to parents from Rainham in Kent, he returned lo- cally and remained in the area apart from a spell on national serv- ice with the RAF in Norfolk. Doug’s local homes included Ringlestone, Langley, Suon Va- lence, and Bearsted. Hewas known lo-


cally from his years running the family busi- ness EHGrist and Sons, a wholesale fruit and vegetable business based in Hedley Street near Maidstone Prison. Doug and his brother took the business over from their fa- ther. When it closed Doug worked for Trebor Sharps in Maidstone. Dougwas married twice. He and first wife


June had children Lesley, Judith and Martin and with second wife Dee he had children Tracy and Stuart. Judith said: “My father loved the outdoors and could take pleasure in a lot of life’s simple things. “When he retired he bought land near Ul-


combe and grew plum trees and Christmas trees, aswell as keeping sheep and chickens. “He sold his produce at market in Ashford


and kept this business going for 15 years. He also toured the south east of England and Wales in a camper van with my stepmother. He even took her to the place inWales where hewas evacuated as a boy. “In later years they had a permanent cara-


van at a site in Dorset and spent their sum- mers there.” Doug leaves his wife, four children – daughter Lesley died in 2011 – 10 grandchil- dren and three great-grandchildren.


IanHodgson


TRIBUTES have been paid to a father-of-two Ian Hodgson, who died when he lost control of his motorbike on the A228 between Pad- dock Wood and East Peckham. Son Chris posted a photograph of a Ducati motorbike on Facebook, in tribute to his father. Amongst those paying tribute was DonnaWilliams, who posted: “My most sincere condo- lences to the whole family, God bless x”


Ian leaves his wife Tracy and sons Chris and Stephen.


David Sladden DAVIDWilliam Charles Sladden (58) lived in Bearsted for around 20 years and lived


locally throughout his life.


Born in Suon Va-


lence and raised in Hollingbourne, David aended Swadelands School and worked as a mechanic with his father-in-law. His pas- sion for cars remained


with him throughout his life. Married for 35 years to Julie, Davidwas fa-


ther to Katie and Grace. Katie said: “Our fa- ther’s passion for carswas a massive part of his life and he owned a number of vintage and classic cars; he loved taking us to car shows. “Our fatherwas outgoing, sociable and the


kind of person who is loved by everyone.” David leaves his wife, daughters, grand- son Jack and sisters Rosemary and Patricia.


Julie MayHughes THE death has been announced of Julie May Hughes (57) who worked in Marks and Spencer and, more recently, as landlady of TheWindmill pub in Burham. She leaves her partner Mike, sons Simon


and Ben, her brother Chris, her sister Lesley and other members of her extended family.


MarshallVine


THE death of Maidstone’s Marshall Vine (73) made local headlines because of his personal quest to save and restore the paddle steamer The Medway Queen. Marshallwas born and brought up in Maidstone. Born with cerebral palsy, Mar- shallwas eight years old before he could walk unaided, but he completed teacher training and taught woodwork, metal- work and history at St John Fisher’s School in Chatham.


Marshallwas also known for his involve-


ment in Scouting and his passion for steam railways; both models and lifesize. Itwas his discovery of the roing hulk of


the Medway Queen and the ensuing cam- paign to restore the vessel that brought him the most local aention and he served as chairman to the society working to bring the Medway Queen back to full working order. The Medway Queen Society paid tribute


to him on itswebsite and a collection at Marshall’s funeral will go to the society. Marshall leaves his sister Diana and her family.


The Stone Shop


Memorials. Any natural stone supplied, lettered and installed anywhere.


Inscriptions added to existing memorials


Renovations and memorial cleaning


The Stone Shop Station Hill, East Farleigh, Kent.


01622 726633 There is no charge for our obituary service. Call Neil Nixon on 01622 630422 or email nlnxn@aol.com 36 Maidstone South September 2016


Obituaries


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