Obituaries, August 21, 2019

East Williamston

THE death of Dilwyn Jones, much loved husband of Yvonne and dad to Viv and Minnie, of East Williamston, occurred peacefully at home after a short illness, on July 10.

Dilwyn was born in December, 1940 in Tylorstown in the Rhondda Fach – the fifth of six children (three brothers and two sisters). During his early years he was proud to have attended Rhondda County Grammar school for boys in Porth. His first job after leaving school was as a wages clerk for the National Coal Board, and during this time he continued his education in night school. Following this he moved to London to work as a Tax Officer for the Inland Revenue.

Later however, he returned to the Rhondda where he secured a job as a transport clerk in the local brewery in Ferndale, advancing to the role of a brewery rep. He then moved to Cardiff working as a senior bottling warehouse supervisor in Hancock’s Brewery. He was later made the first ever warehouse manager for the company.

Then came a significant move to Pembrokeshire – when in his early thirties he was promoted to the role of depot manager for Welsh Brewers in Narberth – a job he loved. During this time he met and married Diana, his first wife, and soon after happily settled into family life in Pembroke with their two girls Vivienne and Minnie, later moving to East Williamston. At the age of 52 he took the opportunity of early retirement from Welsh Brewers – but joined James Williams Brewery for a short time as a consultant. Tragically for the family during this time his wife died unexpectedly.

Dilwyn had been a committed member of St. Mary’s Church, Pembroke since his family attended there – later being churchwarden for a number of years.

In 2003 Dilwyn married Yvonne (his fellow chorister at St Mary’s) and thereafter followed a happy and fun filled 15 years in both their lives. They especially enjoyed going to choir and church together, holidaying both in this country and abroad and spending time with his grandchildren. Dilwyn was particularly proud of both his girls and pleased that they were settled with their own families.

Over the years Dilwyn enjoyed contributing to many clubs and societies in the local community including St Michaels Cemetery Committee and Lamphey Cricket Club. He was an avid sports fan all his life and latterly enjoyed watching his favourite teams play on the television. He was a loyal member of Pembroke Probus Club, being proud to have recently been made a life member – being president on four occasions, and he made and continued to make many friends here.

A large gathering of family and friends attended the very personal funeral service on July 20 at the couple’s church. - St Mary’s Pembroke. The service was led by the retired vicar - Canon Roger Jones, supported by Father Paul Davies. St Mary’s Choir led the cortege in and out of the church and led the musical tributes. This was followed by cremation at Parc Gwyn, Narberth.

Chief mourners were Yvonne, wife; Vivienne and Ken Gill, daughter and son in law; Minnie and Michael O’Connor, daughter and son in law; granddaughters, Ciara, and Cerys; grandsons, Tommy, Niall, Michael and Dylan; Margaret and David, sister and brother in law; Jean, mother in law; George, brother in law; Meryl, cousin; Michael and Mary, cousin and partner; together with other family and friends too numerous to mention.

The bearers were: Tommy and Niall, grandsons; Michael and Ken, sons in law; Michael, cousin and Clive Zimmerman family friend.

There were family flowers only with donations to The Paul Sartori Foundation and Wales Air Ambulance which may be sent c/o E.C. Thomas & Son, Funeral Directors, Zoar Chapel Funeral Home, Llanteg, Narberth SA67 8LT & 21, Main Street, Pembroke SA71 4JS who ably carried out the funeral arrangements.

The family would like to thank Sharon Jones, palliative nurse from Withybush Hospital, Tenby District Nurses and the Paul Sartori Foundation.

Mrs J Evans

Gloucestershire

Well-known Pembrokeshire girl Jennie Evans (nee Lloyd) has died at her home in Gloucestershire, a few days before her 57th birthday.

An outstanding student at Taskers Girls Grammar / Taskers Comprehensive School, Jennie’s particular passion was the classics and she initially studied Latin and Ancient Greek at Exeter before swapping to read English at the University of Wales, Swansea.

On graduating, her first job was working alongside her parents, John and Barbara Lloyd, running two tourism businesses, Rosemoor and Pembrokeshire Cottages in Walwyn’s Castle.

Her natural flair for public speaking led her into lecturing, first at Pembrokeshire College and then as a Welcome Host trainer, leading her to become national co-ordinator for Welcome Host Wales from 1997-2001 - a role that embedded her in the tourism sector across Wales, and through which she made many life-long friends.

Jennie’s incisive mind and gift for communication then led her into business development roles. She was Head of Research and Development at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David in Carmarthen for just over ten years (2001-2012), commuting from her home in Camrose.

She left her beloved Pembrokeshire in 2012 to take up the role of Head of Business Strategy and Development at the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) in Gloucester.

Towards the end of her time there, she was seconded to the post of Project Manager at GFirstLEP, a role she was very sad to have to leave when she retired on ill-health grounds in 2017.

Jennie was diagnosed with Stage IV bowel cancer in September 2015. She counted herself blessed in the superb care she received, from her outstanding oncologist, Dr Nick Reed, to the fantastic chemotherapy nursing team at Cheltenham Hospital.

Soon after diagnosis, Jennie visited Penny Brohn UK, just outside Bristol, a charity whose tag line is ˜living well with cancer”.

She said “I credit the NHS with saving my life and Penny Brohn with showing me how to live it”.

Being Jennie, she quickly became their go-to person to represent the charity, doing various public speaking engagements, from fundraising lunches to events studded with celebrities and royalty, and being featured as their Christmas fundraising campaign story. Through them, she was also proud to co-author an article on “Realistic Hopefulness” with Dr Catherine Zollman for the Journal of Holistic Healthcare.

Jennie’s proudest achievement was her son James, born to her and her then husband Jonathan Evans in December 2000.

On her Twitter account (@Tweetingjennie) she described herself as “Proud Welsh mam of rugby obsessed son, using borrowed time as usefully, thoughtfully and joyfully as I can. Love walking, talking, dancing and driving.”

Jennie died peacefully at home on August 5. Her was on Friday, August 16 at All Saints’ Church, Bisley, Stroud, Gloucestershire.

Mr G Parker

Little Haven

Mr Geoff Parker passed away on July 24 at the age of 85 at Withybush Hospital, Haverfordwest.

Born in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, Geoff lived in Peterborough, Kettering and finally at High Haven, Little Haven.

He worked for East Midlands Allied Press (EMAP), newspaper publishers, all his working life.

He started with an apprenticeship as a printer at the Bury Free Press.

He had a two-year break for national service (1952-54) in the Grenadier Guards.

With EMAP, he moved to the Peterborough Evening Telegraph, the Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph and finally, as managing director of the Western Telegraph in Haverfordwest (1988-1993) before retiring and stayed happily settled in Little Haven.

Geoff played for Bury Town Football Club as a young man.

During his national service in the Grenadier Guards, he marched in the procession for the Queen’s coronation.

He loved sport, playing football and cricket well into his 40s and continued playing golf into his 60s.

Geoff loved his life in Little Haven with his late wife Gene.

He was a big supporter of the RNLI and worked voluntarily in the Little and Broad Haven Lifeboat shop up until last year.

He also took part in the great river race on the Thames in 1996 with a veteran rowing team from Little Haven.

He is survived by his daughters Angela and Sally, stepson Andrew, and grandchildren Oliver, Jake, George, Amber and Emil.

His funeral was held at All Saints Church, Walton West on August 6 by funeral director Roy Folland & Son, prior to cremation at Parc Gwyn Crematorium, Narberth.