Eulogy for dad Thank you all for being here today. Many of you will not have known of dad’s illness, and his passing may have come as quite a shock to you. This was dad’s choice. John Whelan, my father, was a proud man. Over the last year doctors, nurses, my siblings and I, and dad himself, have all described him as a strong and stubborn man. He did not want to show weakness, even to those closest to him. Over the years dad has often mocked the elderly, calling them ‘coffin dodgers’ in jest. Well… dad was the definition of a coffin dodger in the last few months, he dodged that coffin for as long as he possibly could! Many of you will know that we lost our mum, dad’s wife Angela suddenly 5 years ago. This came as a great shock to us all. Mum did so much for us and for dad, and after 38 years of marriage together, dad had to learn how to live without her. It was difficult. Over the last year we have reminisced together on everything he did and achieved in his life, the stories would range from our wonderful holidays abroad that we were so privileged to have gone on. Carla and Tanya, have fond memories of dad getting up and drinking all the house red wine from the tables and dancing to ‘Zorbas dance’ with a Cypriot woman in the Troodos mountains whilst mum looked on in shock and embarrassment! Thomas and I have fond memories of our holidays to Egypt where dad would try and sell me for as many camels as he could get. However, it was the Caribbean cruises that he would always come back to. After going on a rather wild safari with a driver called junior who wanted to see how much air we could get over the dunes all whilst dad and mum were drinking 80% rum that they called diesel, dad rather fancied him and mum moving to Isla Margarita and living the island life. I hope that now mum and dad are reunited they are cruising the world together and he gets to live out his dream of going on safari once again. Other memories he shared fondly with us were stories of his time in the army, and the friends he both joined up with and met there. His grandson, my nephew Caleb is actually in the cadets now having been intrigued by some of the stories that dad told. Dad also spoke often about his rowing days, a member of Derby rowing club he competed in regattas from Merseyside to Kettering. He also reminisced on the time he got to train with the Olympic team as one of their rowers was injured! Dad was incredibly proud of what he achieved in his career, and whilst there are 4 of us children and 5 grandchildren, his baby was Rams. Replacement & Maintenance supplies. His late partner Andrew, and dad set it up in 1987 with help at the time from Mike Woodhouse. A bearings and engineering company, he loved that place. I remember dad coming home covered in oil and grease, shoe soles thick with metal shavings, he would head upstairs to shower in fairy liquid because it was the only thing he believed would get him clean! Sadly, the head engineer at Rams passed away a couple of months ago, and this devastated dad. Mark was dad’s best friend, having worked for the company for over 20 years. Dad was so proud of where he got to in life, mentioning in the last couple of weeks everything he had achieved having built it from very little. Dad had a curious and inquisitive mind, taking things apart to put back together, wanting to know how things worked and refusing to follow instructions. Instead, calling them destructions. His inquisitiveness and his hard working has rubbed off on us all, and we will work as hard as we can to make him and mum proud. I mentioned the company being dad’s baby, well he had another favourite child and he’s not here today as he can’t be trusted to not wee up the side of the coffin or leave clumps of hair behind down the aisle! Loki, dad’s border collie was and still is, the most spoilt dog. Dad would cook Loki bacon and eggs on toast most days, he would save half his meal to give to Loki. Dad would buy the dog Barbour jackets, whilst refusing to buy himself anything new. Loki is now living with Carla, and whilst he’s still a spoilt pup, let’s just say the dogs diet is a bit healthier and he’s lost a couple of kilos! Dad got Loki as a pup 5 months before mum died, and it was perfect timing. Loki was the company that dad needed when mum passed, and it’s nice now to still have that close connection with dad. Even if the giant fur ball isn’t the most intelligent of collies! Dad lived and built a great life for himself, mum and for Carla, Tanya, Thomas and I, and his grandchildren and we are incredibly grateful to have had a father like dad. Thank you dad for everything. We love you always.

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