Sam & Rene celebrated their Diamond Wedding last year with a family meal out & the family showed me a lovely photo taken 10 years before that of the celebration of their Golden Wedding Anniversary with a party in the garden.

Rene told me that theirs had been a very happy marriage. Eventually they’d had two sons Geoff & Trevor & 3 grandchildren Mark, Tim & Phillip & I know that Sam is going to be very much missed by all the family.

As we meet this afternoon each of you will have your own memories of Sam & we’ve come together now not only to say goodbye to him but to celebrate & give thanks for his life.

Sam was born in Tower Hamlets one of two brothers.

He was very clever and went to a good school. For a while he lived with an aunt in order to continue attending school but before the war he moved to be with his family at their smallholding in Hullbridge. There, Sam began as foreman at Tuck’s Mouse Farm.

Rene in the meantime had also moved to Hullbridge & she and some of the other members of the family went to visit the mouse farm and Sam asked her out. They went to local dances where Sam played the squeezebox. She &Sam married in 1942 & they moved in with Rene’s mum, into her very small house, which was at the bottom of their present garden in Rayleigh.

Sam served during the war in the RAOC the Royal Army Ordinance Corps; he served mainly in this country but towards the end of the war was stationed in France & Germany. For a short time after he was demobbed he sold jellied eels from a van & then through an introduction to the manager of Martin’s Newsagent at Bexleyheath he became a newsagent. He worked firstly as a manager of a shop on the largest public estate in Europe at Brentwood, then for a time he went into partnership as a newsagent at Basildon & then finally he had the opportunity to run a shop of his own, at Orchard Avenue, Three Arch Bridge in Brentwood next to the estate where he had first worked. He was therefore 13 years. After selling the business he became a stock taker working mainly for small private shops. He was a founder member of the Trade Valuer’s Institute. Sam continued working as a stock taker for about 30years until he was 80.

Meanwhile Rene & Sam had the opportunity to buy Rene’s Mother’s house & then the adjoining land. They built a new house on it and in the early 1970s moved into their new home in Rayleigh.

Sam was always known for wearing a bowtie. He had various hobbies & interests & from time to time would join a club connected with his hobby. He enjoyed stamp-collecting, horticulture; rug making & he also did a little oil painting & some beautiful tapestry while watching TV & holding a conversation. He also enjoyed playing the electronic organ & liked the music of Reginald Dixon.

For over 40 years he was the honorary secretary of the Ingrave & Hutton Girl Guide Company. He was involved in building their scout hut & fund raising for them

Sam and Rene had regular winter breaks in Spain & they’d also been on cruises to the Caribbean.

In the last few months of his life even when he was in pain he would say “Course I’m alright” even when left holding the two ends of a pipe to stop flooding while his son Trevor, who was repairing the shower was called away to deal with something else.

His sons said this of Sam, he was well liked in the neighbourhood, he was always the one to visit his cousins. You could always ask his help & advice. He always made time for his grandchildren. He used to tell them about stamps & they did things together as the best of mates.

Rene said, “He was a very good man, a very clever man, he would always help people. He was honest & well thought of. We were very, very happy. He was the sort of chap who made you happy. We’ve had a very, very good marriage.

Sam worked as a newsagent for many years & since the beginning of the war with Iraq we’ve been reminded again just how important news is to us.

I’ve just read a little bit of the letter from St. Paul to the church in Corinth. In it he reminds them of the good news that would make a difference to their lives & that makes a difference to ours.

He reminds them that God sent his son Jesus into our world and that he died on a cross so that we could be3 forgiven & our broken relationship with God restored. And he goes on to say that Jesus was buried & on the third day he rose again & he gives a list of people who saw him alive. He wants us to be sure of the evidence for the resurrection because he goes on to say that the resurrection of Jesus is the basis for believing that God will raise us from the dead.

It is Jesus’ death & resurrection that gives us hope & comfort in the face of death. St. John tells us that God so loved the world that he gave his only son so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Eternal life, which begins now with our relationship to God restored through his son & goes on beyond death as St Paul says “There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God”.

 

Reading: Verses from 1 Corinthians 15