Extraordinary lives
THOUGH John was five years younger than me, we were always close. We grew up in Preston, Lancashire, in a happy and loving working-class home — our father was a tanker driver and Mum was a dinner lady. Our parents were hard-working and selfless, and they taught us Christian values, which John lived by throughout his life. He left school at 16 to be an apprentice diesel fitter and later attended night school to become a skilled motor mechanic. This came as no surprise because as a child he had always been fascinated by mechanical toys. In 1974, at the age of 22, he married Joyce, a lovely local girl, and they went on to have a long and happy marriage, with two sons, Simon and Matthew. My husband Michael and I have many happy memories of time spent with John and Joyce, including wonderful holidays together all over Europe. John spent much of his working life employed by the Shell oil company in North Wales and living in the village of Rossett, near Wrexham. In his 40s, feeling that he had been truly fortunate in his own life, he
decided to start giving something back. He became involved with the Operation Christmas Child charity and on several occasions drove an aid lorry to Romania to deliver shoeboxes filled with presents for the orphans. He was deeply moved by what he saw in the orphanages, telling me about one little boy who had never before seen a sweet so he put it straight in his mouth, still wrapped in the paper. He sponsored a boy in Africa for a decade until he had grown up. The child’s picture was on John and Joyce’s kitchen wall. After retiring at the age of 60, John became a Samaritan, volunteered at the Salvation Army serving cooked breakfasts for homeless men, and ran a food bank in Wrexham. Without seeking any recognition, he quietly provided many acts of kindness and assistance. A sign on his desk at home read: ‘Too blessed to be stressed.’ Despite his busy life, John always found time for his six grandchildren. He was a big man, with a big heart and big presence. He survived serious illness only to die suddenly of an aortic aneurysm. His funeral at the Salvation Army Citadel in Wrexham was packed to the rafters with those who loved him, including some of the homeless people he had helped over the years.
John Kight, born June 5, 1952; died February 2, 2019, aged 66.