After 65 years of marriage and a life lived to the full, Dad passed away. He felt tired, he went to the bedroom and told mum he was going to bed. She continued to watch the football match showing on TV. When she went into the bedroom he was lying on their bed, fully clothed, dignified as always. He had gone, quickly, peacefully and splendidly. My inbox, last night, showed me a message from Chabad.org. It seems that Dad and the Rebbe share a yahrzeit. How dad would have relished a conversation with the Rebbe. Whenever he was in the synagogue he would ask the rabbi this difficult and unanswerable question, “Why do bad things happen to good people? And why do good things happen to bad people?”. He never got a satisfactory answer but I think the Rebbe would have tried to help dad deal with this troubling conundrum.

Dad always loved stylish clothes and was a sharp dresser. He met mum when they were 18. They married at 21 and he began to study for all the education he had missed. He later qualified as an account coming 5th in the national examinations. Remarkable for a boy who had skipped most of high school.

At 28 Dad and Mum became parents and, a year later, parents again. It was a role Dad relished and he lavished love on us, his children, supported us and Mum and his parents all their and our lives.

Dad knew how to enjoy himself. Sport was always a fixture in his life from his earliest years almost until the end. Football, cricket, snooker, tennis, golf. He played them all and he won competitions, was a good team player and was my Sunday morning tennis partner for several years.

Above everything, and the partnership that made Dad’s life fulfilled, was his marriage with mum. They did so much together – theatre, cinema, nightclubs, sporting events, played bridge together, motored around France playing golf and dining well. All done within a modest budget but in great style. Through a client they were able to attend the Cannes Film Festival for many years. They looked the part

Above all they danced and loved and laughed together for 65 glorious years

Dad you gave your two children life and you showed us how to live life to the full. Thank you for everything.