Mr O G Martin

Narberth

MR Owain Griffith Martin of Broomley, Narberth, passed away on October 14 at Withybush Hospital. He was 75.

Owain was the only child of Jack and Maggie Martin and brought up at Broomley, the farm where he lived most of his life. On leaving Haverfordwest County Secondary Modern School, he farmed all of his working life on that same farm as well as carried out freeze branding to permanently identify dairy cattle within herds in an area that extended both eastwards to Bridgend and northwards to Aberystwyth.

In 1967, he married Barbara Morgan of Broadway, but was widowed following her sudden death in March 1995. Owain was popular and well known in Narberth and throughout Pembrokeshire in farming circles and as an avid collector of vintage tractors and farm machinery, in particular, ‘The Ferguson System’. He was one of the founder members of Narberth and District Grassland Society and stewarded the Dairy Shorthorn classes at Pembrokeshire County Show for several years. He was a Committee Member of Clynderwen and District Young Farmers’ Show Society and was honoured to be President in 2011. He was also the Pembrokeshire coordinator for Friends of Ferguson Heritage (FoFH) for a number of years.

Owain always led a very active life and served for more than 40 years on the former Narberth North Community Council and Narberth Town Council. In April this year, he was presented with a plaque to commemorate his services to Narberth Town.

He sat on various committees including Narberth Civic Week, Narberth Winter Carnival and Narberth and District Community and Sports Association, which led to his involvement with short mat bowls in Narberth and at county level.

During the 1960s, Owain had been an active member of Clynderwen Young Farmers’ Club. In 1963, he won the award Best Actor in Pembrokeshire YFC’s Drama Competition and then went on to help the Pembrokeshire team win the All Wales Shield in the YFC drama finals in Wrexham, in 1965. He was also Secretary of Clynderwen YFC in 1963 to 1964 and Club Chairman in 1964 to 1965.

Sadly, Owain’s health started to decline and he moved from the family home in 2013 to The Meadows Nursing Home, Johnston, suffering from vascular dementia.

The family left to mourn and principal mourners are Annere Creighton and Lali Smith (daughters); Norman and Mark (sons-in-law); Owen and Harry (grandsons); Alan and Esme; Jeanne and Michael Llewellyn (cousins) and other cousins, relatives and friends too numerous to mention.

The service was held at Parc Gwyn Crematorium on October 23 and was officiated by Rev David Faulkner.

The bearers were Anthony Davies, Lyn Davies, Ralph Dunbar, Geoff Thomas, Keith Thomas and Philip Wainwright.

The funeral cortege was led by Owain’s Ferguson FE35 Grey/Gold diesel tractor driven by Alun Evans, former FoFH coordinator for Carmarthenshire.

Donations in lieu of flowers if desired to may be sent towards Narberth Town, Clynderwen YFC and Narberth and District Grassland Society (cheques made payable to Donation Account), c/o W. J. Kenneth Davies and Sons, Blaenwern, Clynderwen, SA66 7NQ, who also carried out the funeral arrangements.

 

Mr M P Clancy

Haverfordwest

BORN in Dublin in 1920, son of William and Jane Clancy, Michael was the second eldest of 13 children. Working as a coach builder alongside his father, he developed his trade in carpentry and moved to London before settling in Haverfordwest with his late wife, Linda.

A family man, together they had five children, many grandchildren and great grandchildren all of whom he was extremely proud of.

Michael led a full and varied working life, involved in projects including The Mulberry Harbours, construction of various bridges throughout the county, Llys Y Fran dam and Pembroke Power Station.

He was well travelled and worked as far afield as Indonesia and was heavily involved in the building of the Spaceship for one of the Star Wars Films in Pembroke.

He had a supervisory role on many projects throughout this career including the building of the Admiralty Estate, Dale Road, Haverfordwest.

Michael passed away suddenly on November 26 at Withybush hospital. He was 94.

The funeral took place at St David’s and St Patrick’s Catholic Church, Haverfordwest on December 4. The officiating minister Father McGreal and interment followed at City Road Cemetery.

The family left to mourn are Jimmy and Sean (brothers); Sonny, Ann, Michael, David and Helen (sons and daughters); Andrea, Gillian, Shirley and Colin (daughtersin- law and son-in-law); ten grandchildren, seven greatgrandchildren and family and friends too numerous to mention.

Donations in lieu of flowers for Alzheimer’s Society and Paul Sartori Foundation. The funeral arrangements were carried out by Glyn Thomas and Son, Funeral Directors, Freystrop.

Mr R Zisa-Davies Bath formerly of Haverfordwest RUSSELL Zisa-Davies, of Radstock, Bath, passed away on November 30. He was 32.

He had been diagnosed with leukemia three years ago.

He was born in Haverfordwest in 1982 to George and Sarah Davies. Russell attended Tasker Milward School.

He was a member of the Pembrokeshire youth fencing group and represented Wales at the 2000 Commonwealth Youth Games in Edinburgh.

He went on to obtain a BSc in Horticulture from Reading University. He had a natural desire to help people and whilst in university took a gap year with the VSO in Cameroon. He helped develop the Bee Keeping project at the National Botanical Gardens at Yaoundé as a means of increasing income for the local people. Whilst there he established a break-dancing group and he once demonstrated his break-dancing skills on the top of Mount Cameroon! Russell had his own “Greenman Gardening”

landscaping business and took pride in his creations.

He loved the natural world and all aspects of nature.

He was married to Sebina Zisa on September 30 2006 and they have two children Evren (7) and Areli (3).

Russell is survived by his loving wife and daughters, parents, brothers Tom and James, sister Lucy, brotherin- law Gareth and grandmothers Roma and Peggy, aunties, uncles, nephew and nieces, cousins and his sister- in-law to be. Russell had a large circle of wonderful friends who will also all miss him dearly.

A woodland burial took place on Tuesday December 2. He was buried at his family home at Mooryhall Farm, Haverfordwest.

His wonderful spirit, joy, and talents will be celebrated at an event in the near future, sometime in the new year.

Donations may be made to Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research.

 

Mrs D E M Phelps

Llangwm

THE family and friends of the late Mrs Doris Phelps who died at Withybush Hospital earlier this year, will be remembering her more particularly now during the festive season because Dot, as she was affectionately known, was born on Christmas Day and would have been having her 82nd birthday.

The eldest of six children of the late Mr and Mrs Clifford Phillips, latterly of West Park, Hook, Dot proceeded to Swansea Teachers Training College after leaving Tasker’s Grammar School. She taught in a variety of schools in mid-Pembrokeshire as a permanent member of staff and then, later as an occasional temporary teacher to replace absent staff, allowing her time to enjoy bringing up her children Sian and Michael, of whose achievements she was always justly proud. She had married Jack in 1958 and they started married life in Dolgellau but answered the call of their home county in 1961 and settled in Lower Freystrop and then later moved to Llangwm.

From a musical family, she played violin in the Tasker’s School Orchestra at the National Eisteddfodau in the 1940’s but it was the organ which appealed most and she took to it at an early age, sometimes filling in for the regular organist at Hook Mission as a teenager. Her subsequent life was filled with similar helpful in-filling for other people until she took over permanently as organist at St Justinian’s Church, Freystrop in the early 1970’s and assisted also, when required, at the sister church of St Jerome’s, Llangwm.

Mother’s Union ‘expeditions’ also gave her ample opportunity to add to her mounting tally of other Pembrokeshire churches and while on holiday in Aberyswyth once she enjoyed being ‘roped in’ to accompany a Salvation Army Service.

She was edging ever nearer to her father’s ‘score’ of over forty five years as organist at St Martin’s, Haverfordwest, when, in 2008, she was stricken with illness requiring weekly transfusions at the Chemotherapy Unit at Withybush. She did not play the organ ever again, smiling wistfully at press photographs, earlier this year, of awards to church organists with long service similar to her own.

Although her life was henceforth drastically curtailed, even in adversity she took comfort from the fact that, amidst the ever cheerful tea ladies, the hard working Day Unit Nurses and her fellow patients she had soon established new and valued friendships.

She often commented with surprise upon the amount of support she received, throughout her six year illness, from her family and from the clergy and congregations of the two sister churches of Llangwm and Freystrop, realising probably for the first time, how much they had valued her. The regular phone call from Barbara (up the hill), Pat calling with the parish magazine or Sheila and Jane dropping by, were events always guaranteed to transform her whole day, to bring back the old familiar smile and to lighten her burden in the week ahead.

She leaves to mourn her husband Jack, Sian and Michael (daughter and son); Barbara and Winifred (sisters); Edward and Merial (brother and sister-in-law); Alan and Sue (brother-inlaw and sister-in-law) and an extended family of cousins, nieces and nephews.

The Rev Graham Lloyd officiated at the service at St Justinian’s and at the graveside and Glyn Thomas and son were the funeral directors.

The organist was friend and former teaching colleague Mrs Esma Utting. The bearers were David Davies, Graeme Utting, George Hughes and Trevor Thomas, and after the funeral Mrs Beryl Davies and her colleagues organised refreshments in Freystrop Village Hall.