Date: 22 April, 2004 6:01:38 PM PDT
Subject: My Father the Eulogy for his fineral on April 29th
Keith Leslie was born in the hamlet of Christmas Pie, near Wanborough,
on 20th June, 1918. As with many of his generation, he grew up in the
shadow of the First World War - indeed Harry, his father, had already
died by the time he was born,
He was raised by "Pop Boucher"- along with Pop's several children, his
sister Margaret and his brothers Basil and John. His childhood was, in
many ways, idyllic. He told many tales of childhood adventures, being
caught by the law and getting a clip round the ear as punishment. He
spent many happy hours developing photographs at Pop's - photography
became a hobby that he carried on into his 70's.
Keith joined the army and, in 1939, he was a Signalman attached to
various regiments as part of the British Expeditionary Force into
France and was there until his evacuation in 1940 at Dunkirk. After
recovery in England, he was issued with kit suitable for cold-weather
climates - and sent to Singapore! After the Japanese invaded Singapore.
Keith was driving an officer along a highway and pulled off to one
side. The officer was appalled. "Leslie!", he bawled, "what are you
doing?". Keith refused to drive on and, as the Officer approached
apoplexy, bombs commenced dropping on the highway and comprehensively
destroyed the road that he would have been driving on. The Officer shut
up. Keith smiled. Someone looked after him, he felt.
Singapore fell on 15th February 1942 and Keith was imprisoned by the
Japanese. He remained a P.O.W. on Taiwan until 1945, first at Taichu,
then Kinkasei, then at Kukotsu. This short sentence belies the awful
suffering of Keith and his companion P.O.W.'s.
Keith often recounted one story from his days of working in the mines,
of everyone downing tools and walking out of the mine, for no reason,
with the Japanese screaming at them to go back to work. Shortly
after they exited the mine, the area they had been working in collapsed.
Keith said there was no known reason for their leaving, they "just
left". Someone was looking after him, he felt.
Keith was believed to be dead by his family until, at last, in 1944,
some letters began arriving via the Red Cross. In later years he
couldn.t recall sending the letters. The Americans arrived, rescued him
and eventually he returned to his beloved England. All through his
captivity he had dreamed of an English garden, with many flowers and he
was not disappointed when he returned to his family and friends in
Guildford. Someone was looking after him, he felt.
After his discharge, Keith met Alice Long at a dance at the Wooden
Bridge pub. Alice had worked in the Admiralty during the war and had
just returned from a posting in Berlin. Keith.s family welcomed Alice
as the woman to bring Keith back from the war. She succeeded
wonderfully. They married in 1948 and Christine, their first child,
arrived in due course. Alan was born in 1950 and Andy, a late addition
to the family, was born in 1956. Keith was very happy; someone was
looking after him, he felt.
By then, Keith was working at Hawker-Siddely in Richmond, moving to the
nascent British Airways in the late 1950.s as part of .BEA. (British
European Airways), where he was a chartered Aircraft Engineer. During
these years, Keith and Alice and their family lived in Hampton Court,
Molesey and Tolworth, moving to Staines in 1957. Unusually for the
1960.s, the family travelled to other countries for holidays, including
Malta, Italy and Spain; Keith and Alice enjoyed all the benefits of
international tourism.
Keith remained in the Staines area for the rest of his life, moving to
Ashford in 1979 when he retired for the second time, having worked at
Brooklands Technical College after initially retiring from British
Airways in 1976.
Keith.s eyesight began to deteriorate from the1980.s as macular
degeneration slowly robbed him of all but peripheral vision. Despite
this handicap, he continued to cycle around Ashford, frightening
pedestrians, one of whom shouted at him .Are you blind!?. to which he
received the unperturbed answer .Yes, so get out of my way!. Someone
was still looking after him, he felt.
Keith and Alice celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary on April
24th, 1998. It was an immensely happy day for all and a great party was
held. They spent many happy years in retirement until August Bank
Holiday in 2001, when Alice suffered a catastrophic stroke. From that
day forward until less than two weeks before his death, Keith devoted
himself to caring for Alice. He was diagnosed with acute non-Hodgkins
Lymphoma in February 2004 and given 3-10 weeks to live. Keith didn.t
bemoan his fate, he faced it with bravery, stoicism, wit and substance.
. He was admitted to Ashford Hospital on Wednesday 7th April and died
on Saturday 17th April; one week short of what would have been their
56th wedding anniversary. He was lucid to the end, and very sharp. On
the evening before his death, he joked with his family about wanting a
custard pie to eat .not thrown at him - and gave a jaunty thumbs-up as
they left. He died at 6:50 the following morning without pain or demur
and with every desire to just get it done.
This is of course, an inadequate summary of an extraordinary man in
extraordinary times, irascible to the last and much loved by his family
and friends. His life was rich, varied and especially full of love for
Alice, his children and their offspring. He was a proud man
Someone looked after him to the end, he felt.
All is well for Keith, now. His family feel that someone is looking
after him.Thank you for coming. Such a short service cannot define such a man.
Please, join his family at the home he shared with Alice for so many
years and ensure she feel your love and support on such a sad day for
her and the rest of the family who miss him so much.
It's just down the road. And there's so much more to say and remember.
With thanks to Jim Burrows for inspiration
Andy Leslie, 17th Apr 2004.
