Roy McGrath Penney (19 Aug 1923 - 24 Dec 2015)

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Location
Poole Crematorium Gravel Hill Broadstone BH17 9BQ
Date
13th Jan 2016
Time
10.30am
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In loving memory of Roy McGrath Penney who passed away peacefully on Christmas Eve 2015, dearly loved Husband of the late Frances and a much loved Father, Grandfather and Great-Grandfather.

Roy was born at the Star Inn, West Street, Poole on 19th August 1923. He had two younger siblings, Richard and Kathleen.

Roy married Frances Rodway in 1955. They moved to Wimborne and had six children, Margaret, Andrew, Peter, Susan, Paula and Stephen. Sadly Stephen died in 1994.

Roy was a very keen sportsman and he always said that it was his sporting prowess that enabled him to join the RAF and train as a pilot during the 2nd World War. He was always very grateful for the chance this gave him to go to Canada and USA to learn to fly. The photograph showing him receiving his wings always had pride of place.

Roy gave his heart to the Lord when he was a 'lad of seven', as he often told anyone who asked him about his faith. He and Frances served God together in many different ways.

Roy had a good tenor voice and loved to sing praises to his God, singing in male voice choirs and later in the Wessex Gospel Choir with Frances. They ran meetings for Torch Trust for the Blind in Wimborne for over 25 years.

Roy and Frances are now praising God in heaven.

Roy and Frances were in membership at Moordown Baptist Church. There will be a service of Thanksgiving held there on January 13th, 2016 at 12 noon, following the committal at Poole Crematorium at 10:30.

The family would be pleased to see anyone who can attend either or both of these services.

Peter Penney wrote

We’ve said our goodbyes to both Dad and Mum; in doing so we have shared many stories and memories, but I want to share just two more of Dad:-

Sue made allusion at Dad’s service to our family trips to country churches, where we were occasionally referred to as “Penney Von Trappe”, largely on account of the musical instruments we brought with us and played to accompany hymns. Dad of course had been invited to preach, but always tried to involve us in taking parts of the service(s). However, I recall one occasion when the rusty blue Bedford family van broke down, about 1 mile short of our destination in Cripplestyle. We had run out of fuel, but as the gauge didn’t work anyway, assessing residual supply in the tank at any time had relied on Dad’s imperfect memory. Although this happened in the days of no mobile phones, we were fortunately passed by one church member on their way to the planned service. She went ahead to pass on the news to Wilfred Foster, the octogenarian who ran the church. Being a resourceful man, Wilfred came to our rescue with jerrycan of fuel (remember – petrol stations used to be closed on Sundays). I shall never forget Wilfred’s somewhat bemused and quizzical expression when he said, in a slow and thick Dorset accent, “I don’t know Roy, you may be good at preaching, but you aren’t much good with cars”.

Paula also reminded us (below) of the cricket match between Wimborne and Moordown Baptist Churches. Dad was the captain of Wimborne and Robert Amess the same for Moordown; we won the toss and put Moordown into bat. As Paula said Dad took a number of the wickets with gentle off spinners, mostly caught on the boundary, and we got them out for about 110. Andy and I then opened the batting for Wimborne, and we had reached a stand of more than 40, before Dad (umpiring at that point), gave me out leg before to Amess for 19. I looked at him aghast before reluctantly walking. Andy went onto make 28, but Dad came in later and went onto score 40 not out. With one wicket remaining and scores level, Dad was due to face the next Moordown bowler. However, Robert Amess approached him (with a slight hint of gamesmanship in the air) and suggested that they had run out of time and that the match should be drawn with a tied score. Dad magnanimously agreed but I was furious with him for not taking the chance to win the match. Also, when I asked him why he had given me out to a ball that pitched outside off and hit the pad while I was attempting a pull shot (i.e. don’t you know the LBW rule?!), he simply countered with that mischievous twinkle of his “well why didn’t you just hit the ball?”

That sums him up in more ways than one
A generous man with an eye for fun
I’ll miss him loads, and am just so glad
Roy Penney was my special Dad

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Betty Viader donated £25 in memory of Roy

In memory of a very good neighbour.

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Diana and Rob Wilkinson donated £25 in memory of Roy
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Jon Ellis posted a picture
I love this photo, you can imagine how much time he spent there with her in the last few weeks. True love.

I love this photo, you can imagine how much time he spent there with her in the last few weeks. True love.

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Jon Ellis wrote

Some reasons to thank Grampy:

1) Cricket coaching, I could never get the hang of batting like he could in his prime, but my bowling got me into a few teams and that was a testament to his teaching.

2) The humour, he could always make me smile. Particularly when the reaction he was chasing was achieved from his target (usually Mum or Granny) then the glint in his eye as he winked at me like it was our little game! Then when it was my turn to be wound up he pushed it far enough so that it toughened me up for future social scenarios. A true lasting impression. Also for calling Uncle Richard "Baby" over dinner in response to the pet name used by Richard and Sue at the time, I guess you had to be there but very funny!

3) Family values, he was never too busy, always ready to put down what he was doing for anyone in the family ever since I can remember. His family was always his first reason to give thanks.

4) Lessons in selective hearing, he was the grand master.

5) Driving, not only did he drive me back and forth from a great many church club meetings and school runs, he gave me valuable driving advice. "Always change up into the highest gear as soon as you can to save fuel" and "if you hit it fast enough, you can coast all the way down this hill, over the bridge, down Poole road and into the drive without using any pedals...but you have to be going pretty fast!". I believe these are now standard forewords in every copy of the Highway Code.

6) Resolution, life was not always easy for Grampy, but he managed 92 years packed with great achievements and many stories. With a great many years of unwavering dedication to his faith, his wife, his family and his values, he was an example to anyone.

You will be truly missed Grampy for many more reasons than the above, thank you for being such an important influence to me, and to so many others that knew you.

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Denise Moules wrote

I remember Roy's warm smile as he greeted me each Thursday and welcomed me into the home that he and his beloved Frances shared.

I only knew Roy in his latter years but the memories he recounted to me of times throughout his life helped me to realise what a caring, gentle and charming man he was.

One memory he shared was of a time when, as a young lad, his mother had enlisted his services towards running errands and helping an elderly disabled lady. He admitted that he often found the work tedious and sometimes very unpleasant, however, he did, of course, remember appreciating the monetary reward! Reflecting back on this he would express his gratitude for the valuable character building life lessons that he learnt. Those lessons, no doubt helped shaped the compassionate and charming gentleman that I knew as Roy Penney.

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Sue Rayment posted a picture
Sandbanks Cafe

Sandbanks Cafe

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Sue Rayment posted a picture
Dad enjoyed his family outings to Sandbanks

Dad enjoyed his family outings to Sandbanks

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Sue Rayment posted a picture
Dad's first experience of Vanilla Latte at the Sandbanks Cafe

Dad's first experience of Vanilla Latte at the Sandbanks Cafe

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2 weeks before Mum died - Let love and faithfulness remain with you

2 weeks before Mum died - Let love and faithfulness remain with you

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Sue Rayment posted a picture
Dad during one of many outings to Sandbanks in 2015

Dad during one of many outings to Sandbanks in 2015

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Andy Benfold wrote

My lasting memories of Roy will always be centred around the genuine warmth and love that he showed to everyone. The warmth that he (and Frances) showed to me when I was saved as an 18-year old was the same warmth and love that they showed to mum and dad when we moved Moordown, and the same warmth that they showed to Gran and Granddad when they came to visit, and later to Granddad after they moved to Bournemouth and Gran died.

We went through a period in Moordown where several youngsters came to the Lord and began attending prayer meetings, and I always looked forward to Roy's prayers of thanksgiving and his bounding over to the youngsters to encourage them and welcome them. It was always so genuine, his beaming face always told you how he felt!

At Frances' funeral a few weeks ago Steve Ellis was very gently introducing people to Roy outside the crematorium. Roy didn't recognise me, but when Steve said 'Roy this is Andy' a smile spread across his face, 'Andy, this is a lovely surprise' he said. This just underlined the person that he was, even in ill health and sorrow, his default reaction was loving and warm. That will be my final memory of him.

We live in a world now where things and people seem to be becoming increasingly more fleeting and transient, but as a young (ish!) person I think about Roy and the example that he set, loving and serving his saviour for 85 years, married and devoted to Frances for over 60 years. There is no greater testimony than that.

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  • Thank you so much Andy for this memory.

    Posted by Margaret on 10/01/2016 Report abuse
  • Thank you Andy. It is lovely to hear how Mum and Dad's faith impacted young people at church

    Posted by Sue on 10/01/2016 Report abuse
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Margaret Ellis posted a picture
A picture of domestic contentment in the garden in at number 61 in 1956

A picture of domestic contentment in the garden in at number 61 in 1956

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a very youthful looking dad with his five eldest children in 1962

a very youthful looking dad with his five eldest children in 1962

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Sarah wrote

The words which have sprung to my mind most over the last few weeks when I think of my dear Grampy are 'warmth' and 'joy'. During every visit home I was met with both, and it was always a genuine and heartfelt greeting.

I was always grateful for his constant presence in the family home as we grew up. The little twinkle in his eye when he joked and smiled (and teased Mum, which I know wasn't always appreciated!!) was a wonderful way of connecting with him as a child.

Hearing and him sing in church is something that will never leave me. I usually sat behind him in church and would often watch him "make a joyful noise unto the Lord".

I will forever say the word "pizza" with Grampy's accent and pronunciation (pit-zerr!), and will always have far too much cream with desserts ..... after all, apparently there is no such thing as too much cream!

He will be so terribly missed but he is now free of pain, suffering and confusion. In the words of A. A. Milne, "How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard".

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Walking at Sandbanks - 21/11/15

Walking at Sandbanks - 21/11/15

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  • He was tired that day and round the wind tiring, but he always loved going to Sandbanks.

    Posted by Margaret on 9/01/2016 Report abuse
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Margaret Ellis wrote

One of my earliest memories of dad is watching him play cricket whilst sitting at the edge of the field. I didn't always appreciate spending Saturday afternoons in this way! He taught us to play leaning over us holding the bat with his hands over ours.
A far more important memory is of watching him pray. In a house where there were six children, often demanding attention and making a fair amount of noise, I couldn't understand how he could concentrate, but he could. Communicating with his Lord was very important to him.
Possibly my most lasting memory was when our brother Stephen died. Dad and Mum were out when the telephone message came and I had to tell them what had happened when they returned. He was quiet for a moment and then said, 'The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord', a direct quote from Job 1 verse 21. Even in that moment of extreme sadness, he acknowledged that 'all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose'. (Romans 8:28)
In dad's eyes, serving God was the most important thing that we can ever do.
He developed Alzheimer's in his eighties and he struggled when Mum went to glory in November, just seven weeks before him. He is now out of pain and is singing the praise of the God he had served since he was seven. I really hope he already knows the tenor and can remember the words!

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  • I remember the watching cricket too Mags, I also recall fishing in the river Allen where it flowed past the old Wimborne cricket ground- well at least once I got wet, very wet. More to follow

    Posted by Andy on 5/01/2016 Report abuse
  • Being at the younger end of this family I don't really remember going to watch Dad play in Wimborne, but I do remember him teaching us (and our children) how to hold the bat, and 'keep your eye on the ball'! There was also that famous inter church cricket match whilst he was still in membership at Wimborne Baptist Church - were they playing Moordown Baptist? Dad watched all the 'youngsters' bowling with style, delivering unplayable balls to the extremely amateurish batsman at the other end. Dad took over, giving simple bowls, and of course took lots of wickets as a result. It was the match where Dave Martin ended up as the most unlikely number 11, enabling WBC to win the match.

    Posted by Paula on 6/01/2016 Report abuse
  • We first met Roy and Frances when we were attending Stuckton Congregational Chapel in the New Forest and Roy came to preach. They invited us to their home for a meal and introduced us to Moordown Baptist Church, which we joined subsequently. Our friendship grew with time, their home was always open to us and we enjoyed a number of Church holidays together. In all that they did their spirituality shone through and we are the poorer for their homecall. We are grateful, too, to their family. May the Lord be their comfort and strength in these days. Dorothy and David Cheadle.

    Posted by David on 7/01/2016 Report abuse
  • Thank you Dorothy and David. I know they appreciated your friendship

    Posted by Sue on 10/01/2016 Report abuse
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