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# I risk putting this on the board.
My father passed away Friday evening.
He was a great man who I was lucky enough
to call my father and my hero.
I felt I had to put his image up, and out of
respect I hope it is not shopped.

He had been in hospital for a little over 5 weeks after having a fall. He recovered quite well but couldn't quite get his swallowing together so had to be fed by drip. He coped very well with hospital life and constantly sang the praises of such time saving wonders such as being able to chat away whilst at the same time being fed and emptied by tube without having to lift a finger (as always a great fan of gadgets and gizmos!).

I had been taking a laptop PC in for him to watch old RAF footage and films on DVD, and last night we watched the Dam Busters together - just the two of us. He thoroughly enjoyed the film, and according to other patients he kept in good spirits way into the night. The next morning (Friday 22nd) he awoke in good spirits and the nurses told me he was very happy and loved the previous night. Shortly after this he had an episode in which he suffered a rapid brain stem stroke. This left him pretty much unable to move or do anything, but he was comfortable and able to communicate by squeezing hands. I arrived at the hospital an hour later and sat with him.

I put on a DVD of vintage aircraft and he seemed happy when he heard the splutter of old aero engines and the sounds of Merlins and Griffins being put through there paces. We were told that he was on his way (they removed the feed but kept him on water drip) and that it could be anytime. Knowing dad has to make sure everything is sorted and in place before he does anything I spoke to him and told him that everything was all okay and if he felt like letting go, then it was okay and he had all our love with him. He squeezed my hand and as his breath started to draw shorter I told him that he should go fly that high way in the sky ( a favourite film of his - No Highway, by Neville Shute). I gave him our love again and he quietly passed away.

He has had a good innings and his last months have been good to him. He's had a few good days out and some great chats in hospital with various visitors. He never let it get him down.

Thank you so much for your kind replies and respect.
'Nice' shopping would probably have appealed to his growing fondness of computer gadgetry,
so I feel that may be appropriate. Thank you again for your respect.
(I helped save b3ta! Ravenblack All the good quotes have gone, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:27, archived)
# aw shit man
really sorry to hear that :-(
(I helped save b3ta! Reckless_Rik, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:28, archived)
# r.i.p
mr jones.

I'm sorry to hear about your loss.
(I helped save b3ta! Zak McFlimby Twibbling @McFlimby, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:29, archived)
# You have my complete sympathies
he looks very dapper in that picture
(I helped save b3ta! Roxy_Hart is so so old, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:29, archived)
# Sorry to hear that.
what if he's 'nicely' photoshopped?
colourified for example.
(I helped save b3ta! Professor Fnord Regius Professor of B3ta Chronology, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:29, archived)
# Hmmm, I think he'd appreciate that.
He thought all the contraptions in hospital were great. He loved gadgets and was just getting quickly into computers.
(I helped save b3ta! Ravenblack All the good quotes have gone, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:31, archived)
# looks
like a real gent - and sadly there are very few real gents around these days
(I helped save b3ta! Reckless_Rik, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:32, archived)
# I saw him as the Frank Sinatra of the aviation Rat Pack.
This picture reminds me of Frank and the boys walking along outside of Sands.
(I helped save b3ta! Ravenblack All the good quotes have gone, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:37, archived)
# He does look like the coolest
of the bunch, closely followed by the bloke on the far left
What did he get the O.B.E for?
(I helped save b3ta! Roxy_Hart is so so old, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:38, archived)
# The guy at the end drove a Morgan sports car
and was a real charmer, apparently...
Seeing as my dad was 6 foot(ish) in that, it goes to show how tall the tall guy is!

The O.B.E was for his work in aircrash investigation.
Those reconstructions they do (the giant morbid jigsaws) and all the math and deductions, well he pretty much came up with it all. He did the first reconstructions, and I have been told that with out his input, the Spitfire may have been cancelled in favour of more Hurricans. He also figured out the German V2 rocket war head and made improvements that have made air safety what it is today.
(I helped save b3ta! Ravenblack All the good quotes have gone, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:41, archived)
# Dear me!
It sounds like you had such a cool dad!
You were blessed
(I helped save b3ta! Roxy_Hart is so so old, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:43, archived)
# stuff
like that just makes you want to be a better person :-\
(I helped save b3ta! Reckless_Rik, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:42, archived)
# no
colorification always looks awful
(well when i do it, it does)
yarr
(I helped save b3ta! VampireMonkeyOnSpeed a super sexy sexual sex terrorist sex, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:32, archived)
# i thought this was quite nice.
b3ta.com/board/1831999
(I helped save b3ta! Professor Fnord Regius Professor of B3ta Chronology, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:39, archived)
# That is very nice
(I helped save b3ta! Roxy_Hart is so so old, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:41, archived)
# then again this can happen too
easyspace.netmag.easyspace.com/images/guessthebabycoloured1.jpg
(I helped save b3ta! Professor Fnord Regius Professor of B3ta Chronology, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:43, archived)
# what the..!
Demon child!
(I helped save b3ta! Roxy_Hart is so so old, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:45, archived)
# I was 'reliably' informed that it was actually a baby photo of a certain Mr. Beadle
The person who set the guessthebaby challenge didn't have anyone guess correctly.
(I helped save b3ta! Professor Fnord Regius Professor of B3ta Chronology, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:56, archived)
# I
laughed way too hard at that :-D
(I helped save b3ta! Reckless_Rik, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:46, archived)
# Eeep!
(I helped save b3ta! Ravenblack All the good quotes have gone, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:47, archived)
# no
way was that colourised!

.. was it?!
(I helped save b3ta! Reckless_Rik, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:44, archived)
# Yes it was.
I'm still seriously impressed by it.
(I helped save b3ta! StickFigureNinja is worried he may be on the list, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:47, archived)
# Jesus
if it seriously was colourised... I`m in utter awe!
(I helped save b3ta! Reckless_Rik, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:50, archived)
# Awwww!
(I helped save b3ta! Ravenblack All the good quotes have gone, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:54, archived)
# Now that is class.
The Aircraft was yellow.
The suits were cool.
The attitude was laid back but intense.
(I helped save b3ta! Ravenblack All the good quotes have gone, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:43, archived)
# I'm sorry to hear that
very sad news.
(allergic to curry, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:31, archived)
# very sorry to hear that
he looks like a dapper chap
i raise my glass to him
(I helped save b3ta! Spoon, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:31, archived)
# sorry to hear that!
i know how it feels!
(I helped save b3ta! Kaiser, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:32, archived)
# RIP
My deepest sympathies.
(I helped save b3ta! Mr. Sheep Fat Squelchy Goodness, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:34, archived)
# sorry to hear that man.
my deepest condolences.
(I helped save b3ta! PMGT -Bacon., Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:35, archived)
# sorry to hear that
He looks pretty cool in that picture, and he must have led an interesting life to earn all those letters after his name.
(Chorlton, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:36, archived)
# May I offer my sympathies?
Don't worry, any naughty disrespectful photoshopping of this will result in the perpetrator having his clicky-finger broken by the rest of us.
(RedQueen, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:36, archived)
# sorry to hear that
may he live on in his offspring :)
(I helped save b3ta! spacefish bong!, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:38, archived)
# I'm the last of the line - the only son.
I promised him it wouldn't end with me.

My wife grinned in her broody way!
(I helped save b3ta! Ravenblack All the good quotes have gone, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:50, archived)
# sorry about that
life is really tough sometimes.
(I helped save b3ta! rogue Big knickers, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:38, archived)
#
please accept my condolences.
(I helped save b3ta! sosumi, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:38, archived)
# You have my sympathy.
And my respect to him.
(I helped save b3ta! N3d, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:38, archived)
# So sorry about your dad.
Thank you for honouring us with that. He sounds a special man: anybody who gets described by their offspring as "my hero" must be.

(I helped save b3ta! sp3ccylad carries on breathing all the way up to, say, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:38, archived)
# yeah
I think my dads a cunt....:-D
(I helped save b3ta! PMGT -Bacon., Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:43, archived)
# Like wise
my demon spawned mother.
Zero love lost there.
Glad he divorced the slut.
(I helped save b3ta! Ravenblack All the good quotes have gone, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:47, archived)
# On a slightly different subject.
Noticed the choice of films you and your dad shared. You may be interested to know that Richard Todd is alive and well and shopping at the same convenience store as my mother, who goes all star-struck everytime they bump into each other (this being Lincolnshire, where anything to do with that mission is the stuff of legend).
(I helped save b3ta! sp3ccylad carries on breathing all the way up to, say, Sun 24 Aug 2003, 0:05, archived)
# Sweet!
No Highway (James Stewart) had a lead character called Theodore Honey. That characters mannerisms were the spit of my father. He actually assisted with some of the details.

Back when Movie films had 'infomercial' trailers, my father was in one about a crash investigation into a Buccaneer (YARR!) jet. He was in the cinema infomercial prior to The Great Escape main feature!!!
(I helped save b3ta! Ravenblack All the good quotes have gone, Sun 24 Aug 2003, 0:10, archived)
# Nice one!
I can think of far worse films to support.

And as for Richard Todd: I've seen him about when I've been down there visiting my mum. It's odd, because I see him more as Guy Gibson than I do as RT, and given that the mission was planned about 1/4 of a mile from the house I grew up in (the building used to spook me as a kid), it's all a bit resonant for me.

Funny how random , yet how deeply-woven these things are.
(I helped save b3ta! sp3ccylad carries on breathing all the way up to, say, Sun 24 Aug 2003, 0:17, archived)
# My father did some work with Barnes Wallis,
as was the nature of his work at R.A.E Structures dept.

Funny thing is - The father in law of the nurse dealing with my dad turned out to be a metalurgist who had worked with him at the R.A.E!
(I helped save b3ta! Ravenblack All the good quotes have gone, Sun 24 Aug 2003, 0:23, archived)
# yip,
I can relate to that - if I ever see my dad again, I`ll be making my "one phone call" very shortly afterwards

fucking waste of skin
(I helped save b3ta! Reckless_Rik, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:57, archived)
# I can fully appreciate that.
People who say 'She's you mum though' etc, really get on my nerve.
If my father had been Hitler, should I have still loved him just because he was my father? HELL NO.

My father had all my love because he was a great man and an insperation to many others.

You can't choose your parents - TRUE
You can choose to have nothing to do with the shit ones though.
(I helped save b3ta! Ravenblack All the good quotes have gone, Sun 24 Aug 2003, 0:01, archived)
# damned straight
thankfully I have a great mum, and and a grandad who is more a father to me than that cunt ever could be - unfortunately I lost my grandmother 3 years ago; she was a wonderful lady

aww Jesus man - you`ll get me started in a minute!
(I helped save b3ta! Reckless_Rik, Sun 24 Aug 2003, 0:04, archived)
# Love is good.
When you realise what you have whilst you still have them, then you are a wealthy person.

Having shitters as relations helps make you realise the good ones and appreciate them even more.
(I helped save b3ta! Ravenblack All the good quotes have gone, Sun 24 Aug 2003, 0:06, archived)
# I`m just
sad that this thread will be pushed off the board

- once again, I`m very sorry for your loss :-(
(I helped save b3ta! Reckless_Rik, Sun 24 Aug 2003, 0:09, archived)
# it'll always be here.
as will my dad.

Some things can't be forgotten.
(I helped save b3ta! Ravenblack All the good quotes have gone, Sun 24 Aug 2003, 0:11, archived)
# I love both my parents because they are fantastic
my mum had a shitty dad and my dad didn't really get on with his parents but they made sure our lives were great. I'm going to phone them tomorrow :)
(I helped save b3ta! Roxy_Hart is so so old, Sun 24 Aug 2003, 0:13, archived)
# Nice one.
My dads last weeks, days, hours were so special.
I have no regrets and I'm so happy at how it all came together. It could've been a lot worse. He was happy and at peace with everything. It is a fond memory that I will always cherish.
(I helped save b3ta! Ravenblack All the good quotes have gone, Sun 24 Aug 2003, 0:18, archived)
# You have my sympathy
I can't think of anything else to say really.
(I helped save b3ta! StickFigureNinja is worried he may be on the list, Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:48, archived)
# I lost my dad when I was 19
You wont get over it, but you will learn to live with it.

All the best to you M8.
(I helped save b3ta! Black Moon Not cracked, I'm all up to be., Sat 23 Aug 2003, 23:54, archived)
# You just have to carry on.
And you're right. You just have to learn to live with it.
(I helped save b3ta! Ravenblack All the good quotes have gone, Sun 24 Aug 2003, 0:14, archived)
# I'm sorry,
I hope you're okay
(I helped save b3ta! rogan, Sun 24 Aug 2003, 0:05, archived)
# Best wishes
guv.
(Astatine, Sun 24 Aug 2003, 0:07, archived)