Uncle Keith I grew up from a very early age knowing Keith, June, ‘Young’ Keith and Sally. Keith and my dad, Denham grew up together in Durham. When Denham’s parents split up, family members offered him a home and he spent some time with Keith’s parents, Annie and George. Denham and Keith became close, beyond cousins, more like brothers. In recent years I enjoyed time with Keith hearing stories of their time together in Durham, Ewell and Ilford. One in particular was frequently recalled. When one lad started picking on Keith in an Ilford park, Denham took him out with a single punch. I think Denham’s status as ‘older brother’ was secured from that moment on. Keith was first choice for Denham’s best man, but National Service put an end to that. Keith was a good footballer and during his service days played for the army. He attributed his importance to the team for not being sent to the Korean war, although he had to do an extra year due to the war. It was at the time he was dating June and the last thing he wanted. He would get time off at weekends and play for local clubs, including Epsom and Ewell, if my memory is correct. Football was his passion. Fulham FC his love along with boxing. I remember the days of Muhammed Ali boxing against Joe Frasier and the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ Keith would enjoy the big fights and was excited to watch the events, often with my dad and me in tow. He spoke often, with a wry smile, about his mum getting Denham a good office job in the civil service. He was sent to work by Annie as a mechanic in a local garage, a job he hated. He’d often say ‘why my mum got Denham a nice office job and me a job in a garage, I will never know!’ There were also youthful tales of Keith being sent out to get Fish and Chips from the rough part of Durham. He would run home as fast as he could to avoid any problems with the locals. He loved the city of Durham despite the hazards of the fish and chip run. I will miss those stories. We would meet up in recent years, often on his birthday. An easy date to remember as it was Christmas Eve. As kids we would visit Chessington Road to drop off presents and more importantly collect some too! Happy memories and it was a pleasure to keep the visit tradition going in later life. From a young age Keith was always a great encourager of me. He never managed to make me a cricketer, despite several back-garden attempts. But he was never critical of my lack of skill. In later years he was always interested in the sports I did take up, whether it be marathon running, swimming or scuba diving. I took great pleasure recently in his incredulous questioning of me when I shared my underwater adventures. “What, you swim with sharks?’ ‘Yes’, I’d reply with a wry, self-satisfied smile. I never got tired of that. He was one of the very few people who would sit and view my photos. Uncle Keith was part of my life adventure, a great encourager, listener and my last link to Denham in his formative years in Durham. I will miss him. Paul

Thank you for setting up this memorial to Keith. We hope that you find it a positive experience developing the site and that it becomes a place of comfort and inspiration for you to visit whenever you want or need to.

I am I and you are you, whatever we were to each other that we still are. Speak to me in the easy way which you always used. Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight? Life means all that it ever meant, it is the same as it ever was.