This site is a tribute to Chris, who died on 7 February 2024.

Chris was born in Mansfield on August 18, 1942, the second of three children of Stanley and Winifred. Only his elder sister Judy now remains of this family group. Chris' younger sister Susan sadly died in a road accident when Chris was six years old, and his father Stanley died in 1951, when Chris was eight. Chris' mum Winifred had a long life and passed away in 1992.

Chris left school before taking any public exams and went to work for F. W. Woolworths, where he remained for the rest of his working life. He also moved to London where he started in the Portobello Road branch in 1957. It was here that he met Diane and of course Diane's much loved mum, Elsie, who was working as the cashier / office manager in the branch. Elsie initially had reservations about Chris but eventually realised that he was good enough for her! They got married on the 2nd of October 1965. Diane's dad, James had passed away in 1957 and Elsie went to live with Chris and Diane, initially in a flat in Elgin Crescent, close to Portobello Road. Elsie lived with them for almost all the rest of her life until her death in 1999.

Chris worked his way through the ranks at Woolies. In March 1969, he was appointed manager of North Cheam. Chris and Diane moved to 14 Fulford Road in West Ewell, and in November that year Stuart was born. In 1970 he became manager of the Leatherhead branch and then Crouch End in North London in July 1971, the same month that Paul was born. Three more stores, Elephant and Castle, Cricklewood and the Strand followed over the next five years. He stayed as the manager of the Strand from January 1976 to March 1979, when he was appointed as a District Manager, a role he remained in until he retired.

The family continued to live in the Ewell and Cheam area: they moved to Nonsuch Walk and then in 1977 made their final move upwards on the property ladder to 65 Cheam Road. A golden labrador, Sundance, was a welcome addition to the family group - followed, after his death, by another: Sandy. The 1980s were not an easy time for Woolworths: the Paternoster takeover in 1982 brought a significant change in managerial culture but Chris navigated this and was able to continue in the job that he loved, managing districts of Woolworths branches, usually in North London.

At some point he was introduced to the Duke of Edinburgh award. Chris was of course keen to get involved and spent 16 years as chair of the Croydon D of E scheme, founded the City of London project and joined a working party to establish and create Award into Business materials. This gave him a lot of satisfaction - he was very impressed by how the award worked for young people in the UK and across the world. Through this he became a Freeman of the City of London, met royalty on many occasions and enjoyed a Buckingham Palace garden party with Diane. He was very proud when four of his five grandchildren went on to participate in the award scheme, with two of them reaching Gold.

Chris was spending a lot of time behind the wheel as a district manager, but family holidays typically involved long car journeys as well due to Chris' initial fear of flying. Holidays to the beach in the UK - Polzeath was a regular favourite - soon gave way to the South of France. Driving the length of France over 24 hours became the standard way to start the family summer holiday. Stays were often in Roquebrune-sur-Argens where Chris befriended Eric, an English expat who lived there with his French wife. Striking up long-lasting friendships with complete strangers was a characteristic aspect of Chris' lively personality.

In 1992 Chris had problems with his shoulder and when offered early retirement, he worked out that he could just about manage on the resulting pension. After a year or so his frozen shoulder became mobile again and he was able to enjoy 32 years of retirement in very good health. Diane continued working at NatWest for a few more years, but soon they were both retired. Chris took over kitchen duties with gusto and was always finding and trying out new recipes.

Chris still had plenty of energy and an unfulfilled passion for retail. For a few years he advised Penshurst Place, a venerable stately home in Kent, on their project to expand their gift shop. He had lots of ideas of what would work - what would sell, what would not. Closer to home, he got to know Jaylesh, a local shop owner, very well and helped him with keeping his accounts as well as joining him to set up an Indian tableware business.

By this point Stuart and Paul were finished at university, so Chris and Diane could enjoy their time together and go further afield. Miraculously, his fear of flying eased. They went on some cruises with friends, in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean, but soon settled on southern Spain as the place to which they wanted to return. Again Chris created a circle of friends from random meetings on the Costa del Sol. They downsized in England, moving out of Cheam Road to a bungalow a mile away, on Banstead Road. Around the same time they bought a flat in Benalmadena and then when one of their friends decided to sell up they transferred to a property in Playa Lucera in 2007. Now, rather than a 5 minute walk to the beach they were next to a pool and 30 seconds from the beach. This was the perfect place and they were soon spending over a third of the year in Spain rather than in England. Playa Lucera unsurprisingly became a particular wider family favourite holiday destination. Chris and Diane's sons and grandchildren often gravitated there in the summer months and were always exceptionally well looked after by Chris. Ice creams were delivered in cones held in a metal holder; olive oil tortas and cups of tea or glasses of wine were always appearing. Stuart and Paul and their children have many fond memories, particularly enjoying Chris' homemade Sangria! Chris was fond of drinks before, not just during and after, dinner - normally gin and tonic accompanied by 'bits': nuts, crisps, manchego cheese and other tapas favourites. For dinner he drew upon a wide repertoire of salads when eating on the apartment's terrace. When eating out, he had of course befriended most of the local restaurant owners.

With Stuart and Paul finishing University, and a reduced draw on the bank of Mum and Dad, Chris rediscovered his passion for golf and after initially joining Cuddington Golf Club in Banstead Road, joined the Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall, London. This enabled Chris to spend many happy hours over the course of the last 30 years playing golf with a wide group of friends at the RAC club in Epsom and enjoying all that the 19th hole had to offer! Diane also became a RAC member at the same time and will continue to enjoy going with friends to the RAC in Epsom and having tea and coffee whilst looking out over the expansive grounds. Chris' love for golf rubbed off on Paul and his son Sam and both have very fond memories of playing with Chris both at the RAC as well as in Spain. 

Chris was also a DIY enthusiast and properties in two countries - as well as often being called upon to 'help out' Stuart and Paul - meant that he was always painting, installing, replacing or repairing something. He leaves behind a multiplicity of mysterious tools of his trade, many of which will be passed down and used by those he leaves behind. The annual sequence of flights back and forth to Spain - typically in 3 to 6 week blocks - formed the tempo of their year. This tempo had to be adjusted once Brexit took place, but as a lifelong Conservative voter and as a Brexit supporter he couldn't really complain.

In 2019, Stuart had some time off between jobs and convinced Chris to come with him to Mount Athos - they spent a week in the monastic enclave in Northern Greece, living out of rucsacs, sleeping in dormitories, undertaking long walks between the monasteries and attending long services in Greek. It was very different to anything he'd experienced before, but they both relished their time together. It was just in time: in subsequent years Chris would often say that he wouldn't be able to face that much steep walking again.

Suddenly in 2023 his health took a knock. He was installing paving slabs in their Banstead garden when he had a pain in his ribs. He was diagnosed with having strained his intercostal muscles and recommended to rest by a GP. He found this frustrating but complied with the instruction. They could and did still go to Spain, but on his return in October he decided to get it checked out again. This time a scan was taken and a shadow found that eventually indicated lung cancer. By this point it had spread, as a long sequence of tests over the following month revealed. His head, hip, leg and neck were all affected. Suddenly in December, shortly after they had taken a biopsy, he began to find walking difficult and he was feeling increasingly nauseous after eating. The pain needed to be managed with morphine, but he found this difficult and in January it became clear that he wasn't strong enough to have chemotherapy or radiotherapy treatment which in any case would have only extended things for a matter of months. His desire to fight the cancer soon gave way to a wish to enter a hospice. In marked contrast to the NHS, the Princess Alice hospice in Esher swung into immediate and wonderful action. Their wonderful team stabilised his pain and made him comfortable for the final two weeks in which his health steadily deteriorated. He refused to see anyone except very close family and was soon unable even to speak. He died peacefully on 7 February.

He is much loved, very much missed, and will always be remembered.