Extraordinary 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
PAUL was my big brother, hero, anchor in a turbulent childhood and a proud Welsh boy. There were three years between us and when we were children, wherever he went, I followed. We did everything together, from football and cricket to Sunday school. We got into many scrapes and he always stood up for me. Paul’s innate sense of right and wrong was a skill he used all his life. Family life wasn’t easy for us.
After much upset and wrangling, my mother left, taking me with her. This happened one day when Paul was at school. When he came home, he looked for me, but was told I’d gone away for a short holiday and he was being sent to live with our aunt.
In his teens, Paul joined the Merchant Navy and travelled all over the world, making many friends. Nicknamed Taff, he was a straight-talking, honest, warm person whom everyone liked. He never forgot that he had a younger brother and continually
searched for me, but to no avail. Those who could have helped reunite us refused to give him any information for fear of upsetting other family members. However, one day while walking along the high street of our home town, he bumped into a relative and asked if she knew where I was.
He offered her a ten shilling note — a lot of money then! — and she gave him my address. He travelled to where I was living with our mother and we were reunited. He said it was the best ten bob he ever spent. Paul got a job locally and met the love of his life, Ivy. They were married for 56 years and had five children. Paul was Popsie to his 12 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. His big, happy, loving family always included me and my wife. We were as close as we had been as children. His funeral was a sad, but wonderful, event because he had left specific instructions as to how his family and many friends were to celebrate his life. Donations were made in his honour to the coronary care unit at The James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough.
It was a great send-off for my magnificent brother.
PAUL ANDREUS QUANTRILL, born May 10, 1944; died September 24, 2021, aged 77.