We’re inviting donations in memory of Peter King who passed away in November 2020 following a brave battle with cancer.

Weston Hospice provided outstanding support to Peter, and indeed the whole family, following his diagnosis, which allowed him to live comfortably at home for the duration of his illness, and to pass away there with his family beside him.

If you are reading this you probably know quite a lot about Peter and have your own special memories, but for those who perhaps knew him only a short time, here is a brief history.

Peter was a “Moonraker”, born in Purton, Wiltshire, where he grew up with his much-loved parents and his older sister, Wendy.  In 1970 he married his beloved wife Gilly, and they moved to Crewe shortly after, where their daughter Nicola (whom Peter doted on) was born a few years later.

Peter was a career railwayman, and was very proud to be the fourth generation of his family to join the railway, following in the footsteps of his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. After several years’ working in Scientific Services at Swindon, he moved to Rail House in Crewe, where he made many lifelong friends, with whom he shared many a laugh and a joke.

Following his retirement in the 1990s, Peter could often be found pottering in the garden at the family home in Shavington, and where he and Gilly had very many close friends, some of whom may have fond memories (perhaps slightly hazy!) of being invited to “wine tasting evenings” to sample homebrew, often made with produce from the garden.

Peter was also a keen amateur photographer; indeed, one of his nieces fondly remembers Uncle Pete as a taker of very good photographs, and a teller of very bad jokes, which certainly would have made him chuckle.

Peter and Gilly moved to Weston-super-Mare in 2018 to be closer to Nicola and her husband Brian. They celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary there in 2020. Despite the relatively short time Peter lived there, he made good friends in the local neighbourhood and also enjoyed visiting the seafront for a  stroll and the occasional ice cream.

Following his diagnosis of incurable cancer in 2019 (“That was a bloody good start”) Peter continued to live life as fully as possible, despite the challenges of his treatment and of the Type-1 diabetes which he had borne stoically for most of his life, and never lost his trademark sense of humour. During the summer of 2020, with help from Gilly, Nicola, and Brian, he cultivated a prolific vegetable plot and filled the garden with flowers, which he called his “Garden of Remembrance”, and which brought the whole family a great deal of pleasure.

Peter’s funeral will be held on 1^st December, but due to lockdown restrictions, will be restricted to immediate family only. Apologies to all who would have wished to attend, but hopefully we can get together with Peter’s wider family and friends to celebrate his life when things are more ‘normal’.  In the meantime we’d be very grateful if you’re able to show your support for the excellent care provided by Weston Hospice, for which we were all so thankful, and if you’d like to share any of your own memories of him then please do add a comment or message.

Thank you and all the best,

Gilly and Nicola.