lives
HAVE you lost a relative or friend in recent months whose life you’d like to celebrate? Our Friday column tells the stories of ordinary people who lived extraordinary lives. Email your 350-word tribute to: lives@ dailymail.co.uk or write to: Extraordinary Lives, Daily Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT. Please include a phone number.
his first house, presenting the key to Mum on her 21st birthday. Dad had ambitions beyond factory work. He spent his 30s going straight from work to night school to study for his O-lLevels, A-lLevels and a degree. At 40, he retrained as a teacher, sharing his love of learning with pupils at Oakworth Primary School and local middle schools. Dad had a strong sense of fairness. He once bought a toothbrush for every child in his class because one pupil didn’t have one and he didn’t want to single them out. He used to sing in class, tell ghost stories and pass on our outgrown toys and clothes. He taught himself Italian and German, played many musical instruments, loved bridge and was a talented singer with Steeton Male Voice Choir and the Airedale Male Voice Choir, performing in Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. A devout Catholic, he joined the church choir when he was six, continuing as choir master until he was 85. A prized possession was an award from the Pope for his services to the Church. When we were little, he would play the guitar or accordion and serenade my two sisters and me in the bath. There were four years between each of his children and Dad used to joke there was one born every World Cup. He inspired so many people — after his death, there were more than 200 tributes on Facebook from former pupils.