Stalwart honoured for life of helping others
A WELL-KNOWN and respected member of the Johnstown community in Carmarthen has been given a very special celebration looking back at his life and work.
Tom Pointon, 85, has led a remarkable life locally and touched many lives in all of his endeavours over the years.
A long-awaited tribute was held recently, when he was presented with a This is Your Life-style book just like the popular ITV television show of the same name, which was on our screens from the 1950s right up to the early 2000s.
Mr Pointon was given the book by the Johnstown Boys Book Group at a celebration at the Cartref Cynnes residential complex.
Adrian Davies of the book group said: “The This Is Your Life Red book contains more than 80 photos and 68 pages which was compiled by myself and assisted by Tom’s granddaughter Kayleigh Pointon who was the go-between in obtaining photos and information from Tom’s vast 134 files in his office library.”
Tributes were sent in from local athletics legend Dr Hedydd Davies at Carmarthen Harriers, where Mr Pointon was a runner, trainer and first aider.
Town and county councillor Emlyn Schiavone also paid tribute along with staff from Johnstown primary school, where Mr Pointon was the longest serving governor for 20 years - ending in 2020.
Adrian added: “Some of the words used to describe him in the book are salt of the earth, pillar of the community, true ambassador, an inspiration to us all, an icon and a village legend.”
After an entertaining afternoon listening to Mr Pointon’s many talents, guests were treated to an afternoon tea.
Mr Pointon was one of three children and grew up in Pondside, Johnstown. After leaving school at the age of 14, he went to work as a market gardener before he was called to national service.
He joined the Army’s Welsh Regiment and was then transferred to First Battalion Royal Engineers stationed in Dortmund, Germany.
One of his duties there was to guard Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s secretary, imprisoned in Spandau Prison, Berlin.
On return from national service he went to work at the Cow and Gate dairy in Johnstown and then on the gas pipeline between Milford Haven to Llandarcy and the former South Western Electricity Board (SWEB) up until retirement.
A keen sportsman, he excelled at all kinds of games, football being his favourite, up until Carmarthen Harriers spotted his running speeds, he then threw himself into athletics right up until his national service.
Tom married Gwen in 1965 and they had three children, Carol and twins Alison and Jeanette.
They provided them with five grandchildren, Sarah, Kayleigh, Jordan, Natalie and Ceira, and there are four great-grandchildren, Skyla, Haydn, Summer and Rosie.
Tom was also a leading figure of Carmarthen’s St John Ambulance for 40 years and in that time he lectured over 5,000 students from schools, colleges, universities, sporting organisations, Coastguard and Red Cross, to name a few.
For his commitment to St John’s he received three of the top four awards – Senior Brother, Officer Brother and Commander within the Order.
He also served on Carmarthen Town Council, was a first aider and trainer with Carmarthen Town AFC and Carmarthen Harriers.
Mr Pointon was also Johnstown’s Mock Mayor for two years in 2008 and 2009.
It was during his reign as Mock Mayor that he rounded up some of his school day pals and from there the Johnstown Boys Book Group was formed.
There are 12 members in the group with the youngest at 78 and the eldest 95.
In 2018 they published an 80-page book on Johnstown, printed 500 and sold all within seven weeks.
They are now working on volume two which will be around 150 pages and will go on sale in time for Christmas next year.