100 years God’s gift for blazing church rescue
A HEROIC great-grandfather thanks the heavens for reaching his 100th birthday – as a reward for saving 20 worshippers from a burning church.
Former RAF serviceman Geoffrey Willmott rescued more than 20 elderly and disabled men when a fire broke out in a church in 1960.
He led the men across a glazed roof and helped them down a ladder to safety.
And his family believe he has been rewarded by reaching his 100th birthday, and welcomed the milestone with a trumpeter outside his house.
Daughter Avril Hathway, 64, said the highlight of his day was opening the letter from the Queen – and recalled his life-saving heroics at the Tabernacle Church in Newport.
Avril said: “There was a church meeting in an upstairs room and midway through they could smell something funny.
“They opened a door and black acrid smoke was pouring in.
“They managed to open a window and my father could see there was a lean-to below leading to a lane – the only problem was it was made of glass.
“My father helped them to walk along the lead flashing of the roof and get them down.
“They were all quite elderly and one of them was blind.”
Geoffrey, born in Oxford, served in the RAF during World War II before later working as a surveyor and settling with his family in Rogerstone, near Newport.
He married his sweetheart, Gwendolen Rowland, and the couple had two children. Geoffrey now has six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
They celebrated their golden wedding in 1997 but Geoffrey was widowed in 2006.
Geoffrey celebrated his birthday on Wednesday with a socially distanced gathering.
His other daughter, Sonia Thomas, 61, said: “He is a proper gentleman, very generous, kind and honest.”
Granddaughter Anna Hathway said: “He’s an honest man, a churchgoer with a heart of gold and has always got a smile on his face.
“He’s a top, top man.”