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I LAST SAW JIMMY AT BOB NEWTON’S FUNERAL IN MAY, 2007. I SAT NEXT TO JIMMY AND
JOAN IN WATTON CHURCH WHERE HE SANG HEARTILY AND IN TUNE – WHILST THE REST OF
US OPENED OUR MOUTHS A LITTLE. HE WAS SO FULL OF LIFE AND IT IS EXTREMELY
DIFFICULT TO BELIEVE AND ACCEPT THAT THREE MONTHS LATER HE IS NO LONGER WITH US:
A TERRIBLE AND UNEXPECTED SHOCK FOR JOAN, PAULINE, GLYN, THE GRANDCHILDREN
AND ALL JIMMY’S MANY FRIENDS.
SO, HERE WE ARE, ON THIS VERY SAD DAY, TO SAY “GOODBYE” TO JIMMY. HOWEVER, IT IS
ALSO THE OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO REFLECT UPON AND PAY TRIBUTE TO A VERY KINDLY,
LOVING AND PRINCIPLED PERSON WHO WAS LIKED AND RESPECTED BY ALL WHO MET HIM.
FOR ME, IT IS BOTH A PRIVILEGE AND AN HONOUR TO SPEAK ABOUT JIMMY’S LIFE AND HIS
ACHIEVEMENTS.
BORN IN LONDON ON 13TH JUNE, 1931, JIMMY’S EARLY START IN LIFE WAS HARDLY AUSPICIOUS:
HIS MOTHER WAS A WIDOW WHOSE HUSBAND HAD DIED SOME YEARS EARLIER. SHE WAS
ALREADY ILL WITH LIVER CANCER AND SOON HE WAS BEING LOOKED AFTER BY AN AUNT
WHO DID HER BEST BUT, WITH HIS MOTHER’S DEATH ON NEW YEAR’S DAY, 1934, IT WAS ONLY
A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE HE BECAME A “DICKIE BOY” AT THE TENDER AGE OF 2 YEARS,
4 MONTHS.
THE NEXT ELEVEN YEARS WERE SPENT WITH FOSTER PARENTS, IN CAMBRIDGESHIRE, WHO
HAD ALREADY REARED THEIR OWN FAMILY. THEIR CIRCUMSTANCES WERE MODEST AND,
APART FROM SCHOOL AND SINGING IN THE CHURCH CHOIR, JIMMY SPENT MOST OF HIS TIME
IN THEIR SMALL-HOLDING PROVIDING VARIOUS FOODS AND PRODUCE FOR THE LOCAL MARKET.
EVENTUALLY THEY BECAME TOO OLD TO LOOK AFTER OUR GROWING LAD AND HE ARRIVED
AT GOLDINGS, AGED 14, TO LEARN A TRADE: THAT WAS IN AUGUST, 1945 – A FEW MONTHS
LATER THAN MY ARRIVAL, A LITTLE 8-YEAR-OLD BOY WHO HAD ACCOMPANIED HIS FATHER
IN HIS NEW APPOINTMENT AS THE FIRST HEADMASTER OF THE WILLIAM BAKER TECHNICAL
SCHOOL . IT WAS THE START OF A VERY LONG FRIENDSHIP WHICH HAS LASTED FOR 62 YEARS.
JIMMY SOON STOOD OUT IN THIS MUCH LARGER ENVIRONMENT – EXCELLING AT VARIOUS
SPORTS AND IN HIS CHOSEN TRADE OF PRINTING. MOUNT STEPHEN WAS HIS HOUSE AND A
NATURAL PROGRESSION TO PREFECT, HOUSE-CAPTAIN AND ULTIMATELY SCHOOL-CAPTAIN
FOLLOWED. IN PARTICULAR, I REMEMBER MY FATHER SAYING HOW HE HAD LOOKED
FORWARD TO HAVING JIMMY AS SCHOOL CAPTAIN – HE HAD SO MUCH CONFIDENCE IN HIM
IN EVERY WAY.
I HAVE MANY HAPPY MEMORIES OF THAT TIME. JIMMY WAS LIKE AN ELDER BROTHER TO ME -
HAULING ME OUT OF BED WHEN ASSIGNED TO HEADMASTER’S QUARTERS AND GETTING ME
OUT OF TROUBLE ON MORE THAN ONE OCCASION. TWO PARTICULAR EVENTS STICK IN MY
MIND: THE FIRST WAS HOW WELL HE REPRESENTED THE SCHOOL AS A CENTRE COURT BALL
BOY AT WIMBLEDON WHERE, AS SCHOOL- CAPTAIN, HE WAS INVITED BY BRIAN JOHNSON TO
BE INTERVIEWED ON “IN TOWN TONIGHT” AND MET WALT DISNEY AND THE ANDREWS SISTERS
– HEADY STUFF! THE SECOND WAS ONE SPORTS DAY WHERE, WHEN IT BECAME HIS TURN TO
THROW THE CRICKET BALL HE SUGGESTED TO FRANK TORDOFF THAT HE SHOULD RETIRE
FURTHER BACK TO MEASURE HIS THROW. THIS WAS DONE ALMOST RELUCTANTLY,
FOLLOWING WHICH JIMMY SENT THE BALL AT LEAST 30 YARDS BEYOND HIM AND SPECTATORS
NEAR THE PAVILLION DUCKED HURRIEDLY AS IT SAILED TOWARDS THEM!
NATIONAL SERVICE IN THE R. A. F WAS FOLLOWED BY AN INVITATION TO FINISH HIS PRINTING
APPRENTICESHIP UNDER A FULLY INDENTURED SCHEME ESTABLISHED DURING HIS ABSENCE.
THIS COMPLETED, AFTER A SHORT PERIOD IN CHESHUNT HE SPENT TEN YEARS AT THE
“HERTFORDSHIRE MERCURY” BEFORE TAKING UP HIS APPOINTMENT TO TEACH PRINTING AT
THE BARNARDO’S PRINT SCHOOL IN HERTFORD. HE REMAINED THERE UNTIL HIS RETIREMENT.
ACTIVE IN THAT COMMUNITY IN SO MANY WAYS, JIMMY BECAME PART OF THE HERTFORD
FABRIC, PARTICULARLY AS A SCHOOL GOVERNOR, IN MANY SPORTING ROLES AND AS A
STAUNCH SUPPORTER OF THE GOLDINGS OLD BOYS’ ASSOCIATION.
JIMMY HAS ALWAYS BEEN A STRONG FAMILY MAN: HIS STORY ABOUT MEETING JOAN IS THAT
DURING A VISIT TO PLAY CRICKET AT GOLDINGS HE SAW THIS GOOD-LOOKING GIRL FALL ON
SOME CONCRETE STEPS, SO HE CARRIED HER TO SICK BAY FOR ATTENTION AND PURSUED HER
THEREAFTER. WE MEN OFTEN KID OURSELVES THAT WE ARE THE PURSUERS – UNTIL THE LADY
TURNS AROUND AND CATCHES US! IN THIS CASE THE CHASE RESULTED IN TWO CHILDREN, SIX
GRANDCHILDREN AND 53-PLUS HAPPY TEARS TOGETHER (NOT QUITE SO COMMON THESE DAYS)
AND JOAN HAS ALWAYS BEEN VERY SUPPORTIVE TO HER HUSBAND IN EVERY WAY.
BUT WHAT ABOUT JIMMY THE MAN? IN SIMPLE TERMS HE HAS BEEN A CONSUMMATE EXAMPLE
OF “WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET”. IT IS DIFFICULT TO IMAGINE A MORE
STRAIGHTFORWARD, LOYAL, HONEST AND UNASSUMING PERSON AND THE TRIBUTES ON THE
GOLDINGS WEBSITE ARE OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE AS TO THE ESTEEM IN WHICH HE IS HELD.
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