Mr A C Dooley

Pennar

THE funeral took place recently of one of Pembroke Dock’s best loved characters, Mr Alfred Charles Dooley, of Cross Park, Pennar, Pembroke Dock.

Affectionately known to one and all as Affie, he was 75 and is survived by his wife of almost forty years, Gloria.

After leaving school, Affie began his working life at the slaughterhouse in Pembroke Dock then after leaving there, he spent the rest of his time in the building industry firstly for Clifton and House then Argent and his final job was with Woodenbale.

His love of football from a young age made him join Pennar Robins FC by whom he was honoured recently at a special function in Tenby.

Well-known local reporter, the late Vernon Scott said he was possibly Pembrokeshire’s best inside forward. He always followed the Welsh teams in the Premier League but Pennar Robins always had a special place in Affie’s heart.

He married Gloria in 1977 and it would have been their Ruby Wedding Anniversary in November. Affie was always the life and soul of any party and had a tremendous sense of humour. One story that summed this up was one day in work, having fish and chips for lunch, he took his false teeth out, put them in the chip wrapper and inadvertently threw them away with the rubbish when he had finished.

Affie will be sadly missed by all who knew him, most especially his wife Gloria and sisters Maureen, Pat and Dawn.

The funeral took place at Pennar Community Church, Bethany and was followed by interment at Llanion cemetery.

Rev Liz Squires officiated.

The bearers were Kevin Dewhurst, Butch Baldwin, Edgar Phillips, Mikey Marchant, John Evans and Ian Phillips.

The funeral arrangements were carried out by John Roberts and Son, Funeral Directors, 51 Bush Street, Pembroke Dock.

Mr M T W Hughes

Hakin

MR Malcolm Hughes of St Lawrence Avenue, Hakin passed away on October 4 at the age of 70.

Malcolm was born in Milford Haven and at the age of 21 was employed by Esso as a HGV Tanker Driver. At 49 ill health forced him to retire.

Malcolm enjoyed watching rugby and all motor sport also model collecting, he also generously donated to many charities.

The family left to mourn and principal mourners are Julie (loving partner of 35 years); Megan (mam); Anne, Sue, Michael and partners (sisters and brothers-in-law); plus nephews and nieces also cousins plus many friends and neighbours.

The service was held at Hamilton Court Funeral Home followed by cremation at Parc Gwyn Crematorium, Narberth led by the Reverend Martyn Evans.

The bearers were Kelly and Andrew (niece and nephew).

There were family flowers only with donations in lieu to Wales Air Ambulance c/o Mr M Burgoyne, 24 Blackbridge Drive, Milford Haven SA73 1ET.

The funeral arrangements were carried out by Tom Newing and Sons Ltd of Milford Haven.

Mrs M Ackrill-Smithies

Shropshire

(formerly of Milford Haven)

MARY Ackrill-Smithies of Swanmere, Newport, Shropshire passed away aged 62 at the Princess Royal Hospital on September 26, due to complications from her longterm fight with cancer.

Beloved wife and mother, she is survived by her husband Andy (62), and their children from previous marriages David, Anneliese, Luke, Mark and Bethan, as well as two grandchildren Nathan and Joseph.

Mary was born in Lambeth, London on March 18 1955 to Robert and Joan Ackrill.

Her father sadly died when she was four and along with her younger brother John, her upbringing was left to her mother Joan. In 1965 her mother remarried to Kenneth May and they subsequently made their family home in Kennington, alongside her new half-brother Peter.

Following in her mother’s footsteps, Mary attended the prestigious Grey Coat Hospital School in Westminster and from a young age showed a strong aptitude for mathematics.

Her love of maths grew into a desire to teach, and aged 18 Mary decided to enrol in a teacher training course at Newland Park College in Buckinghamshire.

During this time, she made many lifelong friends and is where she first met Andy, who unbeknown to them both would become her loving husband in later life.

In September 1976 she started work as an NQT of Mathematics at Harrow Secondary School. She also met her first husband, Ian Williamson, and the two were married in December 1978. She taught at Harrow until the birth of her first child David in 1982, not returning to teaching until after the birth of her other two children Anneliese (1985) and Luke (1988).

She then obtained a post at St Saviour’s and St Olave’s School in Southwark, where she worked until 1991.

The family moved from London to Maidstone, Kent – and Mary began working at Oldborough Manor School, where she became head of Maths. In 1999 Mary and Ian divorced, and she subsequently moved to the Malling School in 2001, where she went on to be appointed Assistant Headteacher.

It would be 2005 that became a turning point in Mary’s life.

Now aged 50, Mary decided to do many things – she reverted to her maiden name of Ackrill, bought a convertible car, and went to Australia to visit close friends. It was also the time that an old friend, Andy, came back into her life. In the August they met for the first time in 30 years, and their relationship blossomed – even with a 250 mile distance between them. On Christmas day in 2005, Andy asked Mary to marry him – and they announced their engagement on New Year’s Day.

Mary resigned from her job in 2006, sold her house in Maidstone and moved to Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire to be with Andy. The couple bought their first house together, and were married in April 2007 – life was good and they were extremely happy, something they had both missed for many years.

Between 2006 and 2008 Mary became a supply teacher in many schools around Pembrokeshire – but in 2007 she found a new vocation at Portfield School in Haverfordwest.

There she began regularly teaching physically and mentally handicapped children, a rewarding job that she absolutely loved.

Sadly in 2009 Mary was first diagnosed with cancer. She was given an initial prognosis of only six months, but never one to be told what to do, she battled the disease for nearly nine years.

In 2010, Mary suffered an emotional blow with the sudden death of her loving brother. Followed in 2014 with the loss of her beloved Auntie Doris, and a fortnight later her mother Joan – then in June 2015 the death of her mother-in-law, Olwen.

While she never got over these losses, Mary saw many positives in life to aim for – and through sheer determination she saw her daughter Anneliese get married in 2010, followed by the birth of her first grandson in December 2013. At this point Andy took early retirement, and in 2014 Mary and Andy made the decision to move their lives to Newport, Shropshire in order to be closer to family.

The marriage of her eldest son, David in 2016 brought a new grandson into her life, and in early 2017 she was delighted when the newlyweds announced she would be a grandmother for the third time. Sadly she was never able to see this come to pass, with her grandchild due November 2017.

Throughout Mary’s life, family was her driving passion – and led to a love for researching Family History, both for herself and others when asked. She was a loving and caring wife, mother, cousin and most importantly to Mary, a nanna. Her hobbies included travelling while able, gardening, socialising with family and friends and watching musical theatre.

A service of celebration of her life was held on October 27 at Telford Crematorium.

There will be family flowers only, but donations in lieu of flowers can be made to Cancer Research UK.