Bob's Eulogy

Robert William Jennings was born to George and Doris on 16 April 1947, the middle of three children.  Robert, better known as Bob and had an elder sister Rosalind who did her best to keep him out of trouble and a younger sister, Loretta.

Rosalind and Loretta have fond memories of Bob’s mischievous ways, if you take a metal detector to the garden of number 1 Northey Avenue, Cheam you may find his dads medals somewhere under the lawn.  His attempts at setting alight to the family sofa were thwarted by his father with buckets of water. He repeatedly made mud pies with his mother’s silver coffee service that she had presented stylishly on the sideboard. 

Bob went to Sutton West School for boys where he met his lifelong friend Malcolm.  The two boys used to do and share everything together; including their first fag behind his Dads greenhouse.  He then went onto to do an apprenticeship in tool making at Precision Grindings in Mitcham and was top of his class.  In his late teens Bob met Denise Dunn who he married and shortly after had two children, Lisa and Helen.  They led a fairly modest life in Chessington and worked hard to keep the family house running but this did not stop them entertaining friends on special occasions.  Bob and Denise were well known for hosting parties especially every New Years Eve where following a huge bowl of punch and singing Auld Lang Syne, Bob would play (at full volume) Pink Floyd's 'Time'.  Pained by the sound everyone would retreat into the garden in the freezing cold, but tradition was tradition!

Bob then went onto work at FA Hughes as an engineer and spent many years running a local pub in Epsom called the Locomotive until becoming a sales rep for Courage Brewery; a job he thoroughly enjoyed.  Bob would organise special events and visit clubs, giving out freebies and having a drink and cigar with the landlord.  It was a job he was good at as Bob was good at making friends and making people feel at ease, he loved telling stories and good conversation.

Helen and Lisa have fond memories of camping trips in Devon where Bob had to have the biggest tent, which took several strangers to help him erect each year.  In the early hours of the morning the family used to leave home with a huge trailer behind them and it was always guaranteed that they would forget something and have to reverse back through several streets to pick up the forgotten article.  The girls used to love Bob's driving playing what they called "silly buggers" on the motorway overtaking a car who in turn would overtake Bob and again and again until there was a kind of friendship built.  

Bob was known for his crazy, but extremely competent driving right from the beginning in his beloved Brabham Viva.  He also had a passion for motorbikes and loved riding a road called the mad mile in his full set of leathers.

Bob was a true child at heart, Lisa and Helen recall being sat in between their Dads legs on the floor and taken for the ride of their life in his pretend car.  Many of their Christmas presents were something Bob could actually play with; scalextrics, snooker tables, train sets, remote control cars and helicopters which he spent many hours mastering and teaching the girls how to play.

Besides the thrill of speed Bob also enjoyed the simpler, quiet things in life being a keen photographer, playing chess and astronomy.  Friends and family will remember his interest in gadgets and how he loved to show these off together with his love of music and dancing.  

Bob was usually a calm person who took most things in his stride unless of course he happened to set the chimney alight in which case he would run up and down the living room frantically not knowing what to do!  Fortunately for the family Lisa's boyfriend (a roof tiler) was local and climbed on the roof to help pour water down the chimney, one of the few times Helen or Lisa recall their Dad ever being pleased to see "a boyfriend!" 

He was very protective of his loved ones and home, not being scared to defend his family or warn off anyone who posed a threat.

Bob had a large drinks cabinet with all sorts of strength spirits inside which he loved to get friends or family to test & sample.  When the girls were older he used to do his James Bond trick of putting a static hair across the two doors to ensure he could tell if someone had been in his cabinet in his absence. Shame the girls had seen the film many times. 

Twenty years ago Bob and Denise went their separate ways and Bob found a new true love with Lynda and they both felt 17 again. Bob & Lynda moved down to the coast and enjoyed holidays abroad and watching the midnight ferry from their home in Bishopstone, arrive from Dieppe with its twinkling lights. They would often wave at the Captain, certain that they could see him after a glass of wine or three. 

In the millenium, Bob became a Grandfather to Lisa's son Ross, shortly followed by Dan and a decade later to Helen's daughter Laila.

After working for Courage, Bob found himself a parttime time position still in sales. Approaching retirement age Bob & Lynda decided to downsize and move home and shortly after this Bob began to show signs of becoming unwell and was subsequently diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease.

Bob’s life became very difficult, closely cared for by Lynda in his own home,  until finally, for his own safety, Bob went to a lovely nursing home in Seaford where his battle came to an end.

Bob will be missed greatly by his family and friends.  There are no words that can take away the pain that will be felt by all who knew and loved Bob and there are no replacements for a father or loving husband but those we love dont go away, they walk beside us everyday. Unseen, unheard but always near, still loved, still missed and very dear.

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