Easter Edition 2014

John Towns, 1938-2014

John William Edward Towns was born on 24th March 1938. He grew up, with his older sister Mary, in Amersham. His Father was a Cabinet Maker and his Mother ran a sweet shop, which is where it is believed he discovered his sweet tooth.

There are not many stories that remain from his childhood, but he developed his mischievous sense of humour fairly early on, which would occasionally get him into trouble, generally with his mother.

As a family they attended the United Reform Church in Chesham where he was a member of the choir.

On leaving school he followed his father into Joinery starting off as an apprentice. He worked for and ran a number of Joinery shops. Throughout his career he was involved with many projects with clients including The New British Library, The Sultan of Brunei, The Duke of Norfolk, Euro Disney and the Tower of London.

During his working life there are a couple of claims to fame including being detained, albeit briefly in the Tower of London and overtaking Concorde in a Ford Cortina!

John was introduced to Eve by a mutual friend. The first meeting did not go well and this could have been the end of it. However a few months later they met again and their romance blossomed. John and Eve were married on 28th December 1968, Holy Innocents Day. In the 1970s Matthew and Russell arrived.

A few changes in jobs and John and Eve moved to Horndean. They began regularly attending Holy Trinity in the late 80s. They became active members of the congregation, PCC and choir. John enrolled in the Bishops Certificate course, from this he felt a calling to become a Reader being licensed at Portsmouth Cathedral in October 2001. His training as a Reader took him to St Albans, Havant where he became friends with Father Mike Sheffield.

Following the death of his beloved Eve he found it hard to worship regularly at Blendworth and so also worshiped at St George’s, Waterlooville.

John was forever grateful for the support they received from the Rowans Hospice during Eve’s illness and as soon as he could he volunteered for them. Initially he worked in the Waterlooville shop and more recently in the Coffee Shop. He was also a driver transporting patients and relatives to various appointments as well as volunteering for Macmillan Solutions.

In October last year he was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus. He succumbed to the disease much more rapidly than anyone expected. He had hoped to end his days at the Rowans, but sadly this wasn't to be.

John’s family was very important to him. He was a proud father and grandfather. He will be greatly missed.

The funeral took place at Holy Trinity Church, Blendworth on Wednesday 29th January 2014.