Gron, Dad, Grandpa. 


Gron was born in Birkenhead into a Welsh speaking family who came from Anglesey and started school in an all English speaking school. A challenge by all accounts. He was a studious boy and did well, but war broke out when he was 14 and school was abandoned and the choice was either to attend a school some 70 miles away or stay in Birkenhead. He stayed in Birkenhead and looked for work. Initially he did some errand work at Camel Laird shipyard and then was a junior clerk at the Water board - this was the start of a very successful career. He joined the Navy and trained as a navigator  and travelled a great deal. Gron never saw combat but as a petty  officer he was in Singapore, getting ready to fight when the Japanese surrendered and he came back on HMS London.  He trained in  Scotland, Ireland and parts of England - often in later years  when we would say we had been to somewhere he had been during his time in the Navy he would get lost in reverie of these memories. On returning from war he went on to meet his Liverpool bride Betty, meeting in Sefton Park and they were married in 1950. 


Back at the Water Board and after having had such adventures during the war, things seemed rather tame. He had a chance conversation with his boss who said you need to go to night school and get accountancy qualifications. This he duly did and eventually  he became  a charted accountant . A promotional move from Eastham to Spalding led to his final job in Llandrindod Wells setting up the Water board for Radnorshire in Mid Wales.  Always one to take work seriously, one of his many sayings was  if ' you are going to do a job then it's worth doing well’. This was instilled into us all. He was a respected member of the community and a JP who took his duties very seriously.


An early retirement and a brave move from their house in mid Wales to a caravan on the Isle of Wight in 1984 before finding their  bungalow in Freshwater. He did a little bit of work,  but soon found his time was filled with things he liked doing. He became an active member of the Totland Bowls Club, his accountancy experiences became known so became treasurer. His love of travel continued and he and Betty saw many parts of the world, New Zealand, Australia, The Far East, America and Canada, as well as lots of European trips. 


So what of hobbies and interest?  What immediately springs to mind is a love of gardening and a passion for  Tranmere Rovers.  He claims that the love of gardening came from early childhood when they only had a back yard and later when they moved with a young family (his daughters Christine and Janet) to Eastham in the Wirral where they had their own garden!  His interest never waned, he spent hours pottering in his greenhouse and produced some pretty spectacular tomatoes. Some of his produce went to local show and he won prizes.Another interest was collecting stamps from across the world and putting them into albums. If they were travelling they usually started conversations which inevitably end up with some sort of future stamp exchange. He wasn’t a very tidy person and would not throw anything away which may be useful- rubber bands, paperclips, bits of paper, stamps - he came from a generation where these things mattered and was unable to let this go. 


Tranmere Rovers was his local football team as a lad and he has recorded all their wins, and sadly more losses, over the years.  He always had hope for them and until recently recorded  the outcome, attendance at the match in his diary.  In fact this diary came out very frequently - any significant events were recored, so he could tell you from the diary what happened on “todays date” in 1970 or 71 or 72 etc.


Another thing he loved was making things - often said he was never happier than when he had a piece of wood and a plane in his hand. We all have things he has made.  One story he told us often was the rocking horse he made one Christmas.  It was duly presented on Christmas day - just one draw back the paint was still wet!  He was a busy man in those days, working at the Water Board  all day, studying for exams and helping which Christmas post to make ends meet.


He was brave. When diagnosed some 17 years ago with cancer, he faced it with a very positive attitude. He had a major experimental operation with life expectancy of 2 years - he had 15 and often commented  about what a bonus that was. We remember the day when the consultant explained the operation and the risks and advised him to think about it and get back to him about when he would want to have the operation - his response was ' what are you doing this afternoon?' 


Gron was proud of his family. The achievements of his daughters Christine and Janet and  the successes of his two grandchildren Anna and Andrew gave him great pleasure. For the  last 4 and half years, after we so sadly lost Mum who had looked after him royally for over 67 years,  he has been well cared for in his care home in Winchester. The staff liked him and before his recent illnesses he was always one to be having a joke, looking on the bright side of life and even managed a few smiles in his final days  Many conversations centred round the world and the universe, the meaning of life etc…He  told us that he always says his prayers before going to sleep - in Welsh -  so it is comforting for us that we too have just heard the Lords Prayer in Welsh.