November - St Boniface Church

As a boy, he often went fishing with actor Henry FondaFAMILY MAN: Henry with David Simpson, Thelma, Ken, Lynette Simpson, Garvin, GemmaHaynes, Josh and Gabrielle CowleyHenry’s10legacylives onHENRY Haynes was a characterwho packed so much into his life.He was born on Christmas Eve1924 in London, and was the oldestof four children.The family grew up in London,Henry only moving first toGarstang and then to Tarporleyto be closer to his daughter,Lynette, and her family whenthey settled here.In the late ‘20s and early ‘30s,Henry’s father established acatering agency supplying helpto the film industry, which led tothe Haynes children often appearingas film extras.Henry was to be seen in filmssuch as "The Life of Don Juan"with Douglas Fairbanks, "Drakeof England" with MathiesonLang, "Things to Come" withRaymond Massey, "Fire overEngland" with Flora Robson and"Wings of the Morning" withHenry Fonda.Henry struck up a friendshipwith ‘Hank’ Fonda as the two enjoyedfishing together.Henry left school at 14 in early1939.One of his first jobs was at theAscot Gas Water Heater makingmunitions.At 18, Henry was called up forNational Service in the RoyalNavy, and in 1942 served as anEngine Room Artificer stationedat the naval dockyard in Alexandria,Egypt.After returning to the UK, hewas demobbed in 1946.Henry met his wife-to-be Eileen,who had come over from Ireland,in Neasden.They married in 1952 and setup home in Harlesden, London,where their children, Lynette,Maureen and Kevin, were born.The family later moved to Harrowwhere Gemma was born athome, delivered by Henry himself.Henry worked in engineeringall his life as a machinist,skilled toolmaker and later becamea company director in ThePower Tool Company.A notable achievement was thedevelopment of the ‘Moskito’speedboat, a forerunner of themodern jet-ski.Henry made the news testingthis boat on the Thames.As reported in the EveningStandard, he was stopped by theriver police for speeding.Sadly Eileen died in 1975 leavingHenry and the family devastated.Four years later, however,Henry was delighted to becomea grandfather for the first timeand eventually had eight grandchildrenand two great grandchildren.He fulfilled his role as granddad,not only in the usual wayssuch as babysitting and attendingschool events but by makingfancy dress costumes andschool projects, all designed andbuilt with engineering precision.Henry was most happy on familyholidays spent caravanning inSussex and Ireland and in a cottageon the beach at Rock inCornwall, and enjoyed fishingand gardening, which became apart-time job after he retired.Henry loved having his familyaround him particularly at Christmaswhen he organised theevent with characteristic precision.This usually began about Septemberover a drink in the RisingSun.Henry will be missed by all thefamily but leaves many specialmemories for them to treasure.Son’stributeto DadFAMILY and friends gatheredat St Boniface Churchon Friday 7 October to givethanks for the life of Thomas(Tom) Kay, a Bunbury manwho was loved and admiredby all who knew him.His sons, Simon andJames, paid a moving tributeto their much-loved father,a man who ‘never gaveup, never took no for an answerand who stood up forwhat he believed in’.A wonderful role model forhis sons, Tom relished achallenge, whether it waslandscaping his own gardenor crafting the furniture fortheir home.Tom loved the water andhe leaves his family withmany memories of happytimes, particularly thosespent on holidays by thesea.He will be much missed byall who knew him and ourthoughts go out to his familyat this time.