John had a great memory of the past, the people in it and the events of both his own and his family’s lives. Ali is very grateful that she recorded both in writing and on audio the following highlights, landmarks and important milestones in John and Ann’s life so they can be shared with you today and remembered forever.
 
Eulogy
 
John Michael Watkins was born in Tunbridge Wells on the 8thth July 1936.  He was the eldest of two children born to Rose and Sidney, his brother Robert being a few years younger.
 
When he was about 6 years old the family moved to Southall in London as John’s father Sidney was working in a factory in Slough making wing tips for spitfires. The family of 4 had to live with Uncle Albert and family which was a bit of a squeeze with 8 in a small terraced house, so John moved to Sittingbourne with his brother and mum Rose (who originated from Sittingbourne) and dad Sidney came home for weekends. This rented house was at 112 Canterbury Road.
 
John’s primary schooling was in a school in Sittingbourne called the Mission Room (which is now a car sales room opposite the 24-hour Tesco!) He attended for 3 years before going to the Council School at 10 years old. John recalled
“Only 3 children went to the Grammar school and I was not one of them- the Grammar school was full of people with money at that time!”
John always had great skills within the technical and practical side of things and at the age of 13 he took the technical exam which allowed him to enter Rochester Tech college where he attended for 3 years until he was 16 in 1952.
 
And then a year later his life took a wonderful turn when he was 17 and he met Ann, 15 at the time, who became the love of his life and keeper of his heart.
 
They used to ‘hang out’ at ‘the log’ by the bus stop in Teynham, childhood sweethearts.  John recalls that he initially fell for Ann because her father was a landlord of a local pub and that Ann fell for him because he owned an Aerial Square 4 1000cc motorbike!  In fact, Alan who is here with us today, also owned a motorbike at that time and went out with Ann before John!
 
John remembers when Ann was just sixteen and she had her appendix out, so Ann’s mum Rita, would not let them travel to their holiday in Bournemouth by motorbike, they had to go by coach.
 
It was in the Dover Castle pub, after last orders and after a few pints that John asked his father- in- law Bob for Ann’s hand in marriage.
 
They got married in Faversham on 6th July 1957; Ann was nineteen and John twenty, 2 days before his 21st birthday!  A newspaper cutting of the time reports: “The bride who was given away by her father, was attired in a full length dress of white Nottingham lace over taffeta, with a waist length veil held in place by a head dress of white nylon leaves.  She carried an all-white bouquet of rose buds, carnations, stephanotis and lilies of the valley!  Later the happy couple left for a honeymoon in Spain, the bride travelling in a turquoise duster coat with a matching hat and matching accessories.” … They certainly don’t write local wedding reports like that anymore!
 
Honeymooning in Spain back in the 1950’s was quite something.  The happy couple stayed in Port Bou with an extra excursion to Barcelona all because John had English pounds in his pocket and this was in high demand!  The holiday was all paid for in advance but John remembers going with £70 in his pocket and coming back with £20!
 
John and Ann were childhood sweethearts and their wonderful bond stayed strong throughout their lives together.
 
The same year he got married not long after returning from honeymoon, John had to fulfil National service for 2 long years. He was posted in Aden, south of Saudi Arabia. This must have been a real challenge and heart breaking for the newly weds but they wrote to each other regularly and knowing he had the love of his beautiful wife waiting for him in Teynham kept John going through the dangerous gunfire and dark nights.
 
 
 
 
On returning from Aden in 1959 John moved into the Dover Castle pub with his wife Ann and his mother in law Rita and father in law Bob. Ann and John began their family whilst also saving money to buy their first home together.
 
 
There is a good story that Ali and Suzie will share about how the family home of Copper Lodge came to be. But the first foundations were started the day after Boxing day in 1962 and their home was completed in 1966 when Ali was one, Jo was three and Mark was four. Seven years later, along came Suzie!
 
But life does not only give us good things, it sometimes takes them away and Jo tragically died in 2002 when she was still young.  This devastating and traumatic event hit the whole family extremely hard but Jo lives on in our thoughts, hearts and her 3 children, Amy, Laura and Hannah who are with us today and their beautiful children, John’s great grandchildren- Joseph, Finley, Levi, Josh, Caiden, Ayesha, Emily and Ella.
In total John has eleven grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren who will carry his memory into the future. Memories of an ambitious, determined, traditional and steadfast man.  Someone who always worked hard to support his family.
 
The next milestone in John’s life and career came after they had been living at Copper Lodge for about 7 years. John had the offer of going self – employedas a plumber and heating engineer which was a big risk, and as John remembered, they had no money as all his wages had gone into making Copper Lodge a home. But again he had the backing of his wife Ann. He also had the support of a man called George Peach whom John had worked for and who offered to support John in his first few years of going self employed by providing the ‘expensive stuff’ such as copper pipes and boilers. A strong message that George said to John, we he always shared with his children was: Well if you don’t give it a go you will never know!
 
As he was setting up on his own John remembered how he needed a van to do the work as the green mini traveller was not big enough and Ann needed it for the school runs. So in 1963 John went to his father in law Bob and asked for a loan of £180 to buy a blue van he had seen. John ran this van for 3 years, was able to pay Bob back and then bought a brand new grey transit for £700. Many of you might recall his JMWatkins Plumbing and Heating Engineer sign painted on the side!
 
 The day before John’s 50th birthday he took a rag stone fireplace out at Copper Lodge.  Ann came home to this chaos and was quite concerned because she had organised a surprise 50th party for John at the house.  Ann did ask John had he not noticed all the extra food and drink indoors and John replied that he just thought it must have been on a special offer somewhere!
 
 
A huge and important part of John and Ann’s life came through their love of Rolls Royce cars. It was always John’s dream to own one and he purchased his first in 1984, a gold Silver Shadow. Several years later came the stunning red 20 horse power.
 John and Ann really loved their Rolls Royce trips, joining the club in 1985 and this gave them both lots of pleasure and adventures.  Some of the beautiful places overseas that the club took them to was the South of France, through the Pyrenees in Spain, the 60th anniversary of the Liberation of Guernsey, Southern Ireland with plenty of Guinness tasting, Bruges and Ypres in Belgium visiting the Second World War graves.  As well as closer to home, taking part in numerous rallies to stately homes, castles, beautiful gardens and Gloucester Docks.  Ann took great pride in the RR picnics, without fail she would set the table beautifully with flowers picked from the garden and always a table cloth.  Fellow Rolls Royce friends always admired their set up! Dad would enjoy his pale ale or Guinness, seated in his chair, admiring the beautiful cars and chatting to the RR members, many who became friends.
 
Holidaying in Cyprus John and Ann holidayed together for many years to Cyprus to the same hotel, St George’s, in the same fortnight in October. They became welcomed and well- liked guests and often received special treatment from the staff. It was sad that when Ann died John did not have the desire to return although his family encouraged him too. However, he could hold on to some wonderful and well- deserved memories of their time together in that special place. They made some lovely friends too and enjoyed meeting up year after year.
 
 
In 2003 John and Ann bought their Volvo car to enjoy full retirement with the plan to ‘nip round Great Britain’ and to see the North. They managed to fulfil some but not all of these dreams but John said he had no regrets.
 
John was never the same again after his loving wife Ann died suddenly 4 years ago and life looked very different for him without her. This was a testament to the strength and depth of their love for each other and the wonderful life they shared. Knowing this will give the family strength in the difficult times ahead.