amily memories of Brian/Dad used by Martin Shallcross is his funeral address on 22/3/13 Brian was born on the sitting room floor on 24th October 1940. Along with his mum and older sister, Susan, he would be taken to different seaside resorts to disguise the identity of his Dad who masqueraded as Lobby Ludd as well as being a journalist for a daily newspaper. Very Asthmatic as a child, Brian spent most of his time at home reading his Dad’s encyclopaedias to make up for not being at school. He passed his 11+ two years early and was always grateful that Ralph took him under his wing at Maidenhead Grammar School. He did not always remember his teachers that fondly and was full of stories of the pranks he and others got up to at their expense. He was very familiar with the Headmaster’s office! Listening to the Goons whilst doing his homework made a lasting impression and his love of their humour remained all his life. Despite this, he passed his O levels and began an apprenticeship with ML Aviation, attending night school at Southall Tech. He and Ralph remained friends and would often drive over to Jan’s house in Slough. Brian’s life changed forever when he started at British Filters in the early 1960s where he met Sylvia, Christine and Frances. At first he failed to impress them and was banned from the lunchtime cricket team. However, a rainy day changed everything when one of them shared his Mac! Brian and Frances married at Maidenhead Registry office in 1962. Within a few years they had – and still have! - 2 wonderful children, Catherine and Christopher, who suffered throughout their school lives from his determination to embarrass them with his Eric Morecombe impression and his natty sense of fashion. When his Mum, sister and her family emigrated to Australia in 1966 Brian remained at Heywood lodge where many a Saturday was spent with family and friends playing darts or talking late into the night. Although this changed at the end of 1970 when the family moved to the Wirral so Brian could start a new job, we still kept in contact with old friends. He went on to work for Locker Air Maze for 27 years as technical director, travelling the world, designing and patenting new innovations in filtration, his area of expertise. Dad loved his job and often worked at home at a drawing board in the bedroom standing back to consider a problem, lighting another cigarette even though one was already alight in the ashtray, a pencil tucked behind his ear. He was very proud of Kate gaining a place at Oxford University and of Chris’s prowess with languages that came to the fore after a year in the Netherlands with AFS. This led Brian and Frances into a new adventure as they got involved with AFS and added 3 more ‘children, Tito, Juan Carlos and Mimi to the family. He loved hosting countless other young people from all over the world, who all enjoyed the hospitality of the Old Post Office and those famous parties. Life for Brian and Frances was full and happy (most of the time!) with lots of friends and the birth of their first grandchild. They travelled widely, visiting many countries. But everything changed on 13th January 1997 when he was suddenly struck down by a mysterious virus. GBS nearly paralyzed him, keeping him in hospital for months and making him more determined upon recovery to seize the day. This led to the move to America, when US colleagues finally persuade him to take his expertise over to their side! He promised Mum it would just be for 3 years but he loved it and enjoyed the freedom, the sunshine and a gratifyingly successful end to his career. Friends and a growing family (3 more grand children) exploited the opportunity to explore the States, especially as Brian and Frances moved from Ohio to Minnesota and then finally retired to North Carolina. He got to visit places he had only dreamed of as a boy. He also got to fulfil his dream of building his own home, and his pride in this was visible for all to see. In this last visit to England he and Mum had managed to see a lot of old friends and spend time with the family, travelling around and having fun. His very sudden death is so shocking for us as it came out of the blue. However, he had been living life to the full right up to the end and did not have to suffer pain of a long illness. These are a few of his favourite things: He loved the Goons and quoted catch phrases all the time. He and I would fill a whole telephone call with goonisms. Morecome and Wise. Those glasses and putting me off in school concerts Peter Sellars – sings George Gerschwin That he got to build his house Travelling Playing cricket, rounders and catch when we went to the beach Marmite A pukka tea Mince and gravy; salt and pepper; bloomin’ sprouts A nice a bit of Stilton He loved his job and took such pride in what he accomplished for the benefit of the companies but never pushy enough on his own behalf Wednesday night! Science and maths – understanding how things work Russian teapot - blazing a trail behind the Iron Curtain in the 1980s Isambard Kingdom Brunel was his hero and thanks to Trev he got to Bristol just a few weeks ago to see the SS Great Britain Reading everything. His own library of books Riding in the Lancaster Home Depot –the most romantic place in the world! His tractor A pukka two Photographing his grandchildren Elebums ‘We wanna do the garden’ – with Mum of course That bloody basset Having friends to stay Being called Brain Read Quizzes, crossword and Sudoku. Cards and scrabble. chess