At 8:35 on the morning of Wednesday 20th Dec Dave gained his angel wings
We were all with him holding him tightly
He’s taken a piece of our hearts with him 🕊✨🌈
‘’ How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard”
Grief after all is the price we pay for love ❤️
This is what I want in Heaven
For words to become notes
Conversations to be symphonies. 🎶
We know he’s now at peace and will be looking over us always listening to all the very best music
Forever riding on a crest of a wave 🌊
Now the time has come to bring down the curtain 🎭
Husband 💖
Dad 💙💗
Grandad 🤍🖤💜💙
Skip 💚
Grumpy 💛
If there ever comes a day
When we can’t be together
Keep me in your heart
I’ll stay there forever ❤️
He changed and enriched the lives of so many children, young adults, pack leaders and so many more.
And really was simply the best, better than all the rest
If we could write a story it would be the greatest ever told of a kind and loving man who had a heart of gold. 💛
You will remain in our hearts and memories always
We will love you forever
On the day the dress code is no black, no uniforms but red Gangshow scarfs can we worn.
Only family flowers, everyone else can bring one flower to lay on top of the coffin while leaving after the service, the curtain will remain open so you can walk by and say “see you again on the other side” or just reflect for a moment or two.
We will also be adding a live feed so friends and loved ones near and far who can’t attend can feel part of the service and be with us all in spirit and pay their respects, and again say goodbye or just have a moment or two to reflect on the memories made and shared with us all.
The service will of course be full of music because that was his biggest love after his family, and lots of pictures of his life, we want to celebrate his life and remember all the good times and memories made. As well as giving Dave/Dad the best send off. 🎉
Please add pictures and leave messages of condolence, add a poem, share a memory or whatever you would like to share. This will all bring mum comfort over the coming months.
The funeral details are on this page and the wake after will be held at the village club in Norton Fitzwarren. If you could kindly tick if you are attending the funeral, wake or both just so we have a rough idea of numbers. Many thanks.
For those wishing to join the service online please visit https://watch.obitus.com
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Oh my goodness I can’t believe this! I got this book for my Dad last year and this evening I opened it on page 111 Where ever I go ✨ could this be the connection with the song, was this the poem you went to most. Lifted my spirits & made my heart spike ❤
Happy heavenly 4 months Dad ❤️I found this picture at Ed’s last week and he kindly let me have it. The only one I have with you & Grandad in, & with it being his 10 anniversary in heaven I found this picture rather fitting. I love & miss you beyond word ✨
Dad tonight we are going as a family to watch the Taunton Gangshow that you started. I know you will be with us in spirit. And up on the stage singling along with the gang 🎶🪽✨🎭🎼🎬⚜️
And my heart ❤️ is full of love and pride and I have a lifetime of stories to share ✨🪽 love and miss you Dad xxx
Thank you for this beauty Dad 🌈✨ absolute perfection 💞
I want to smile again, without feeling guilty.
I want to miss you, without coming undone.
I want to celebrate your life,
without my heart breaking.
If there’s a good side of grief, I’ve yet to reach it. It’s not getting any easier. Time isn’t helping. Some days I feel as if the pain deepens.
The roads ahead seem longer without you walking them beside me.
It’s like I’m resistant to joy.
Pushing back against my own happiness.
I’m afraid that healing means forgetting,
and I’m not ready to leave.
Let me sit here for a little while longer.
There are things I needed to tell you
that I never got the chance to.
Things you deserved to hear....
I’m sorry.
I’m sorry for not doing more.
If it was possible to bear your pain,
I would have.
Even when distant, my world was better because you were in it.
I was always proud of you.
My love for you is constant,
unconditional, eternal.
There are pieces of you I’m discovering in me. Little gifts you unknowingly left behind.
Even your absence is filled with moments worth revisiting.
Maybe instead of learning how to live without you, I’ll just bring the best of you with me.
Maybe we're not meant to move on,
we're meant to move with.
Hi Dad 🥰 we’ve actually found your favourite flower the snowdrop that has a face on & it's actually called Grumpy 💖 your Gangshow nickname But all it does is make me smile 😊 what a beautiful little flower 🤍 Shine ✨ bright like the diamond 💎 you are
LISTEN FOR ME
Listen for me in the music in the songs we held so dear I'll find a way to play them so you will feel me near
each verse will lift your spirits embrace your weary soul each word my soul is sending to help you feel more whole
listen for me in the music and nature's music too
the birds will sing my message they'll chorus my love for you
the wind will play the trees as you are walking by if you listen very closely my heart's in every sigh listen for me my love
I'll find a million ways to whisper in your ear that I'm not so far away.
You are forever with me Dad in my heart, my thoughts, watching over me and still guiding me.
Keep leaving me signs 🌈 🎶 🪶 🩵 (orbs) and watching over me.
Love you with all my heart ❤️
I can’t believe it’s 3 months this week since you gained your angel wings 🪽 I miss your voice, I miss your smile, I miss your hugs, I miss having our discussions, I miss that smirk. I miss you so very much Dad ♥️ you are so very loved 🥰 xxx
Happy Heavenly Birthday 🎁 my love
Here is a gift 💝 from me to you for the charity that meant so much to you. I carry you in my heart ❤️ always. And my love for you reaches beyond on the moon and more than all the stars ✨
Shine bright my love
Forever yours Jackie xxx
A birthday 🎁 from us to you for the charity that meant so much to you.
Happy heavenly birthday Dad ♥️ we love you and miss you so much. Shine bright Dad ✨
Happy Birthday Dad. Hope your having a blast your always in our thoughts and heart's. Miss you so much. Love you. Till we meet again
We all went to snowdrop valley yesterday for you Dad 🤍 you were very much in our hearts and thoughts and I think you stopped by to say hello when the sky turned blue and the sun ☀️ came beaming down ✨ we love you xxx
Hi Dad, happy heavenly birthday 🤍 I hope you are having a party 🥳 up there and listening to all your favourite music 🎶 singing away & tapping those feet ♥️ I will eat your birthday wine gums 💝 you are in our hearts & thoughts as always, shine bright ✨
This poem is very apt now.
The funeral is over
Everyone has left
What do I do now
My head in such a mess.
.
Everywhere I look
Everything I see
I can feel you all around
I don't know how to feel.
.
The coat that you wore
The smell of your aftershave
Sets me aback
With the love that you gave.
.
The pictures on the wall
The music that is played
I just wish for another minute
That you could have stayed.
.
I hope I can cope
With the emptiness inside
I will try and act happy
But my feeling I will hide. 🤍 💫✨🌟
I know I’ve got this! Even though right now it just feels I’m just making it through each day. Love ❤️ and miss you so very much Dad ✨
Thanks for the traffic jam soundtrack this morning Boss. Good Vibrations followed shortly afterwards by Alright Now; I doubled the volume and drummed the steering wheel - just like you always did, got some funny looks similar to the ones I used to give you from the passenger seat! So many road trip and other memories of times with you, for which I will always be grateful.
So lucky to have had a Boss I could also call a great friend; to have shared funny moments, happy times and had your support through some of life’s challenges.
Music, sport and so many other things will always remind me of our banter. You and your beautiful family will never be far from my thoughts. Rest easy Boss xx
♥️
And your story wasn't finished yet. There were many pages and chapters that should have been left to write. it wasn't supposed to end this way. I am really struggling this week I really miss you Dad 😔 ✨🤍🌟
Beyond forever ♥️ Oh Dad what I would give for a hug right now 💞 My bright shining star ✨
Thank you for everything you did Dave, for Oliver and Charlotte. How great were the Gang Shows but also Oliver loved going to the Norton Fitzwarren Beavers, Cubs and Scouts.
With love Christine and Simon Briggs
Oh my goodness I can’t believe this! I got this book for my Dad last year and this evening I opened it on page 111 Where ever I go ✨ could this be the connection with the song, was this the poem you went to most. Lifted my spirits & made my heart spike ❤
Happy heavenly 4 months Dad ❤️I found this picture at Ed’s last week and he kindly let me have it. The only one I have with you & Grandad in, & with it being his 10 anniversary in heaven I found this picture rather fitting. I love & miss you beyond word ✨
Dad tonight we are going as a family to watch the Taunton Gangshow that you started. I know you will be with us in spirit. And up on the stage singling along with the gang 🎶🪽✨🎭🎼🎬⚜️
And my heart ❤️ is full of love and pride and I have a lifetime of stories to share ✨🪽 love and miss you Dad xxx
Thank you for this beauty Dad 🌈✨ absolute perfection 💞
Hi Dad 🥰 we’ve actually found your favourite flower the snowdrop that has a face on & it's actually called Grumpy 💖 your Gangshow nickname But all it does is make me smile 😊 what a beautiful little flower 🤍 Shine ✨ bright like the diamond 💎 you are
I can’t believe it’s 3 months this week since you gained your angel wings 🪽 I miss your voice, I miss your smile, I miss your hugs, I miss having our discussions, I miss that smirk. I miss you so very much Dad ♥️ you are so very loved 🥰 xxx
We all went to snowdrop valley yesterday for you Dad 🤍 you were very much in our hearts and thoughts and I think you stopped by to say hello when the sky turned blue and the sun ☀️ came beaming down ✨ we love you xxx
Hi Dad, happy heavenly birthday 🤍 I hope you are having a party 🥳 up there and listening to all your favourite music 🎶 singing away & tapping those feet ♥️ I will eat your birthday wine gums 💝 you are in our hearts & thoughts as always, shine bright ✨
I know I’ve got this! Even though right now it just feels I’m just making it through each day. Love ❤️ and miss you so very much Dad ✨
♥️
And your story wasn't finished yet. There were many pages and chapters that should have been left to write. it wasn't supposed to end this way. I am really struggling this week I really miss you Dad 😔 ✨🤍🌟
Beyond forever ♥️ Oh Dad what I would give for a hug right now 💞 My bright shining star ✨
The stars ✨ have called you home Dad 🌟 Goodnight sleep well 💫
It's the badge of the scout in the Army because he shows the way: so to a peace Scout shows the way in doing his duty and helping others. ' Baden-Powell renamed the symbol after the heraldic fleu - de - lis a stylised lily symbolic of peace and purity⚜️
The Scout Promise On my honour, I promise that I will do my best to do my duty to God and to The King, to help other people and to keep the Scout Law. Scouts ⚜️
Grandad and Paige ♥️
Grandad and Paige 💖
Grandad and Paige 💞
"But the real way to get happiness is by giving out happiness to other people." Lord Baden Powell Scouts often describe someone who has died as having “gone home” by using the tracking symbol ⚜️
Snowflakes are kisses from the ones we love who are now in heaven. ❄️ This evening it started snowing, I know it was you Dad 🌟 come to cheer me up. Just like every snowflake is unique, so were you, one of a kind. How lucky was I to get to call you Dad 💛
A beautiful picture of my parents with Jayden & Paige ♥️
🤍✨🪽🕊️🎶💞
I went to see Dad yesterday 🤍 he looked so peaceful, made me miss him even more if that’s possible. I left him with keepsakes and private letters from us all along with his treasured lord of the rings book, family pictures, and a packet of wine gums ✨🪽
At the gang show.
At a cub camp
Jayden helping his grandad in the garden ♥️
Dad & Nan’s joint birthday party 🥳 Dad 70 & Nan 90 with our 4 children Lauren, Bailey, Jayden & Paige 🥰 precious memories 💞
Dad around 18 months old ♥️ the most blonde Curley hair with thr most beautiful smile 🥰
Goodbye? Oh no, please. Can't we just go back to page one and start all over again? Sorry, Pooh, but all stories have an ending, you know. Oh, bother said Pooh 🤍
You were my here, biggest supporter, told me to stand up with what I believed in even if that did get me in trouble. you showed me how to love unconditionally. Now you will be my shining light & I will leave the window cracked open for you to come & go 💫
This is where I will find you now 🤍 Hidden beneath the laughter is a sadness that I will live with for the rest of my life. This is the scar of grief. After all grief is the price we pay for love 🤍
Dad I found you some snowdrops! Not just any kinda of snowdrops either, a variety of different kinds. I’ve made two posies up one for you to hold onto and I’m pressing the other posy for mum to hold onto until you are together again. 🤍
Debenhams May 1993.
Happy Heavenly New Year Dad 🤍 I hope you are having a fabulous party up there and singing and dancing away ✨ and having a cheeky Jack Daniel’s or two 🥰 Love you with all my heart and miss you so very much ♥️
Found this picture of Dad yesterday while sorted through a folder of documents. Made my heart smile 🥰
A beautiful double rainbow 🌈 over Minehead yesterday ✨ I know that’s you Dad letting us know you are okay and you always knew rainbows made me smile 🥰 Thank you for making my heart ❤️ smile and that you are watching over us 🌟 xxx
Dave wetting himself laughing as Jackie directed my dad backwards until he fell over 🤣
Will always remember Dave making these children laugh and smile with his song. He taught them all of the actions despite the fact they couldn't speak a word of the same language.
Dave on holiday with us all in Kenya.
Family holiday memories with Dave on a glass bottom boat in Kenya.
OH DAD THIS IS HOW I WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER YOU, DEFINITELY ONE OF MY FAVOURITE PICTURES OF YOU. MISSING YOU SO VERY MUCH 💔 BUT I KNOW YOU ARE AT PEACE NOW. WHENEVER I’M FEELING SAD I’LL LOOK AT THIS PICTURE 🥰
Oh DAD HOW I’M GOING TO MISS THIS SMILE 😊 THIS IS MY ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE PICTURE OF YOU. THIS SUMS YOU UP PERFECTLY. MISSING YOU SO VERY MUCH 💔 But I KNOW YOU ARE AT PEACE NOW.
Mum and Dad on their honeymoon in London ♥️
A picture I took last year visiting Snow Drop Valley. Snowdrops were dad’s favourite flowers ♥️
Lauren our letter boxing on Dartmoor with her Grandad ♥️
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