IN MEMORY OF A WONDERFUL HUSBAND, DAD, GRANDDAD, FRIEND AND COLLEAGUE
DAVID GLYN JOHN EVERITT
SONG: Wish you were here by Pink Floyd
GRANDDAD’s TRIBUTE, BY GRANDDAUGHTER KAYLEIGH EVERITT
Granddad you’re a ‘one in million’, there is no one else like you around. I sit here and think it’s still not true and you are going to walk through my front door and do your whistle and that this whole thing was a bad dream, but I know that is not happening so for now until I see you again, I will sit here and think about our memories together we had down Devon.
I will never forget all your old jokes definitely your favourite one about the four skin divers that got everyone in stitches every time. You used to tell these jokes every year down Devon or when we brought someone new into the Everitt family. I will definitely miss the knee nurdling even though it hurt like nobody business, I will miss it. I am going to miss the singing Granddad,
We are going down the pub (which was a lot).
I know a song that will get on your nerves or when Kian was little
I know a song that will get up your nose.
We all sit and here and laugh about the renovation that you did on our little boat, the most uncomfortable seat going, or re-doing the console but forgetting to fill in the old holes, so down in Devon there was you, Dad, Kian and Brian trying to play dot to dot filling in these holes but of course it was Kian’s fault as always.
Or the time where your boat become a ‘Dancing on Ice’ boat edition, but you swore blind you put non slip stuff on the floor. All these times put us all in stitches, they still do now, and that is what made you Granddad. They don’t just put Grand in front of any word, they only put in front of words for people who deserve it and granddad I can definitely say from the bottom of my heart you were one of those people.
Granddad you could light an entire room up with your smile, you were loved by so many people near and far. Devon is not going to be the same without you, where you sat on the beach in your chair with a cup of tea in your hands, reading the paper, hat on and your wetsuit around your waist, smelling so badly. Giving your orders to everyone or blaming Kian for everything that goes wrong. I am going to miss us lot sitting on the sea wall, you drinking either Proper Job or Tribute, causing trouble and talking to every dog person that crossed paths with the Cricket Inn.
Granddad, there are so many more memories of ours I will remember but I will be here forever saying them all, but I will certainly keep them in my mind. I love you with all my heart, it hurts that I had to say goodbye so early. I really hope I do you proud. I know you will be watching over us all every day. You are finally reunited with little Nan, (poor little Nan). Look after them all up there. Until next time Granddad.
A TRIBUTE TO DAVID, BY STEPDAUGHTER JENNY MCKERLIE
And granddaughters Scarlett-Rose and Daisy
David you'll be thought about so often with such loving memory.You were all the Special things that a Husband, Father, Granddad and of course a dog owner could have been.The laughter that you brought to the lives you have touched will live on forever, as you were loved so very much.
You really are missed being here, since you went away.But the happiness you brought to many will get treasured every day!So may you find a gentle peace in your eternal rest.We’ll always love you dearly David.You really were the best!
SONG: Wonderful tonight - Eric Clapton
A TRIBUTE TO MY DAVID – BY LYNN EVERITT
My David
Born David Glyn John Everitt on Tuesday 25th November 1947 in East London. His Mum Rosie was Welsh and he was originally to be christened Dafyd, but his father refused in case he was called ‘Daffodil’ in school!
David didn't see his Dad until he was 5 years old, as he was supposedly lost in the desert somewhere! He adored his Mum and had many fond memories growing up, with Aunts and Uncles, trips out and holidays together shared with his little brother Bryn.
In 1959 he passed his 11+ and went to Plaistow Grammar School, in East London where he first met me! We were in the same class 1A but after the first year, David moved to a different class and we never really got to know each other!
In the 4th year we both went on a school cruise on the ship Dunera. I never even knew he was on it, but he had photos of me he had taken, in my swimsuit!!
As a young teenager he used to attend Sunday Service as a choirboy at the local church St Andrews in Plaistow East London. This was purely so he could go to the attached club in the vicarage, where there were girls!
He stayed on at school in the 6th form and this was the 60’s a time of music, mods and rockers and surfing. His passions at this time were the Beach Boys, hitch hiking trips to Devon during school holidays and surfing in Newquay and surrounding areas with his schoolmates.
He left Plaistow Grammar at 18 and went to work as a dispensing pharmacist for Boots the chemist in Aldgate. He had many tales of 'goings on' here, supplying some of the local characters with weird concoctions, and how he had to make the tablets and mix medicines together. He even picked up Latin, … which I did for 2 years in school and cannot say anything!
His love of motorbikes and cars definitely did not put him in the category of a 60’s Mod with Vespa Scooters! He loved tinkering and would build vehicles (Hillman Imps), from bits and pieces and spent lots of time in breakers yards. In the 70’s he converted an old Bedford Luton into a camper van for his family.
When he married, like so many East Enders he moved out of East London to Stanford le Hope in Essex.
Unknown to both of us, I had also moved to Stanford le Hope, so our paths crossed many times.
He left the chemist and joined the bus service in Grays, Essex. He was responsible for maintaining the buses keeping them on the road. (A lot of the campervan he converted was made with old bus seats etc.! He was good at recycling!)
Whenever we saw an old Route Master bus go by we always had to follow it and get a picture!
The Fire Brigade was his next career choice, where the camaraderie and friendships proved to be memorable times. He was a tough man, had a temper, what you saw is what you got, but he was also a sensitive man and some of the sights he saw in the Fire Brigade stayed with him for the rest of his life. But with most emergency services they had a ‘sick’ sense of humour, which got them through many bad times.
It was in the Fire Brigade that he first learnt to Scuba Dive, a passion he followed for the rest of his life. He made many friends in the Scuba club and many are still mates today.
Tim Alderman, Brian Wood and Babs, Nashers, Norman Cole, Melinda Locke, Bobby Mac, Bob Bray, Pete Marshal… to name a few.
Their tales of scallops, lobsters, crabs, rum and even more scallops are still told today, with laughter over the very basic equipment they used to dive with and the fun times they all had.
He left the Fire Service to set up on his own making aquariums and dealing in tropical fish. He knows all the fish Latin names and has many happy memories in the shop helped by his family.
He had to give up his own business when the recession hit and small business owners were hit with high rents and taxes. He went back to logistics and vehicle maintenance for Wincanton Transport.
His other passion was Jack Russell pups! In his lifetime he owned 5 Jack Russell’s all called Rusty. People have fond memories of each of these pups, especially No 3 who was fond of emitting strong smells, eating cow pats and coming home soaked with water after showing his affection to female pups!
Current pup, Rusty No. 5 has David’s love of the water and boats, and barks constantly on the beach, to the annoyance of friends and other beach users!
His love of stupid jokes is legendary, he tells the same old jokes, especially whenever someone new comes on the scene. Ask Kayleigh; her new boyfriend Taylor was subject to these a couple of weeks ago when he met David for the first time.
Jokes
* How do you circumcise a whale? - Send down 4 skin divers
* What's the definition of a Spanish suppository - Innuendo!
* What’s the noise and anchor makes when it hits the water – Spalash!
US
David and I had bumped into each other at evening classes in Essex in the 1980’s, he was taking his CPC in Road Transport and I was undertaking AAT account exams. We then met again as a School Reunion in the early 1990’s. My marriage had ended and I moved to Crawley with my Job and 2 younger children. After his marriage ended, he obtained my address from the School Reunion organiser and wrote to me. (I still have the letter!)
I called him a couple of weeks later (best thing I ever did!), and he came over to see me that Friday night. After meeting up on the Monday and Tuesday he never went back home. We knew it was right we were in love!
On that Wednesday I took him with me to babysit for my friends Charlotte and Dennis, they were surprised when I introduced Dave as the week before they had met a different Dave (I’d not had a man friend before, let alone 2 in one week, both called Dave!)
Dennis made a comment to David about how sad some people were who could recite The Life of Brain verbatim. David responded, that’s me and went into a long monologue. That was the start of a lifelong friendship with Charlotte and Dennis.
We were married the following year on 19th August 1997, on our own in Devon of course, it was a wonderful day.
We moved into our current house, which between us we have completely rebuilt/redecorated. Friends and neighbours were always asking when we would stop. The house and garden were our ‘thing’’, ponds, gazebos, decking.
Then along came Grandchildren, a wonderful joy to both of us. He was a fantastic Granddad and loved them all to bits. He enjoyed being with all children, in the nicest possible way! They loved being tormented by him, being called ‘Pests in Vests’ and giving high fives and spuds.
We had many happy holidays together including going to Australia to see my son and two granddaughters. But our favourite holidays were in Beesands, near Dartmouth in Devon.
He loved boats; his first was a Delky Dory that was found sunk in Kingsbridge, Devon. It was retrieved and restored starting his passion for boats. He has owned a 5.5 metre RIB since the early 1990’s, it a bit like Triggers’ Broom, still the same boat but lots of new bits attached….
The holidays over the years have consisted of scuba diving for scallops, fishing for mackerel, playing with inflatables and more scallops! And, of course rum drinking and going to the pub.
His proudest moments were when his son Marks children, Kayleigh and Kian learnt their boating skills in their own RIB. Then Kian passed all his Scuba Diving qualifications and was scuba diving with Granddad. David said he was like a ‘bee in a bottle’, pulling him all over the place underwater whilst attached to a buddy line. But, Kian always found the lobsters…
We have made many friends at Beesands, the local fishermen and staff and owners of The Cricket Inn pub, which David will be returning to for a drink.
On our anniversary he always gave me a red rose for every year we’d been married and on our 20th anniversary one of the roses developed roots and is now growing in our garden, a testament to our love.
In 1996 he was introduced to Crawley Sea Cadets ‘TS Cossack’ through my son who was a Marine Cadet. He volunteered here for over 24 years, making trailers, repairing boats, escorting Cadets and driving them around, along with any general or vehicle maintenance that was needed. He assisted with fund raising and was also the Chairman for a while.
Here he made long lasting friendships with Nick Boorman, Vic Woolgar and Carl Penny. Many hours were spent in the boat shed, happily indulging in lots of glue and fibreglass, reciting Peter Seller films and generally being outrageous.
When we retired Carl Penny (now a paramedic) asked if we’d like to drive for his Medi4 Ambulance Patient Transport Company. We decided to try it out and found it so rewarding, learning many life skills. So many, that I felt comfortable looking after David at home for palliative care.
I so loved being double crew with David on the rare times we worked together. Many other crew members loved working with him, he was so much fun to be with. They always told us we were a great example for marriage as we were so much fun to be with and so obviously in love.
The messages received from the Medi4 family are wonderful, especially the little teddy made from David’s own work shirt. It’s a great comfort knowing he was appreciated and enjoyed.
The one thing I will always remember is that he told me at least 10 times a day that he loved me. He said it for the last time just before he died as I did to him. xxxxx
He died in my arms.
My David xxxxx
Quote during committal
Where do people go when they die?
Somewhere below, or in the sky?
I can't be sure, said Granddad, but it seems,
They simply set up home in our dreams!
SONG: I'll see you in my dreams - Joe Brown