Eulogy for Graham George Lewis Graham was born on December 21st 1941 in Walton on Thames to Cyril and Ella Lewis. Dad, Cyril worked as a Fireman in Walton, and Mum, Ella kept the home; Ella came from a large family who lived in Norfolk. Graham was the eldest of their two sons, his younger brother was named Alan who was two years his junior. A story from Graham’s childhood includes the day that he posted his Mum’s wedding ring through a gap in the floorboards and although he did own up to doing it, he could not remember where he had done it…. they never found the ring. Graham married first wife Sue in 1966 and son, Simon was born in 1970; although the divorced in 1983, the have remained friends and Sue has joined with us today, to remember Graham. From an early age, Graham had a love for Trains and railways in general and went on to work on the railway in Surbiton and Guilford and North Camp [Farnborough]. He started work in the ticket office and ended up working in the Travel section in Basingstoke. Another of Graham’s jobs was that of long distance removals and came to Spain delivering folks belongings over the years. Prior to coming to Spain, Graham worked as a Chauffer and Laurie worked in the same business driving minibuses. Graham’s passion was steam railways and he spent many happy years as a volunteer worker on the Mid-Hants Preserved Railway; he so enjoyed seeing the happy faces of the young children riding on the Santa Specials and also Thomas the Tank. His love of steam trains took him all over the United Kingdom and he possibly visited, over the years, every preserved railway… no mean feat ! Graham and Laurie met in a Singles Club; Laurie’s friend Pat did the introduction and approached Graham and his friend, on her behalf, by asking when they were going to buy a drink for them and starting something in that place that was going to become history. There was also started a progression of number threes and successive months in their history together. They met on 3rd March 1985, got married two years later on 3rd April 1987 and moved to Spain on 3rd May 2006… how amazing ! With Graham’s marriage to Laurie, he gained a daughter, Sarah who was born in 1968. I asked Laurie the question, ‘why Spain and why here’, and she explained that the had friends who lived in Javia and came over several times on holiday. They loved the Country and looked at this area as a possible place to move to. In 2002 they bought their villa on Camposol, finally moving here full time in 2006 and have not regretted a single minute since moving to the Costa Calida. After arriving here, Graham joined the Mazarron Bowls Club, having never played before, but took to the game very well. He went on to become a very competent Player, took on the role of Vice Captain for a while, and made many new friends at the club. Both Graham and Laurie have made so many new friends since their arrival here and recent events have shown the value of these true friendships. Graham so enjoyed his life here in Spain and as he often used to say ‘I am living my dream’ I have a little story to tell you all… Graham visited Percheles beach in 2010 with several friends and as usual, the sea was fairly rough with large rolling waves. Graham had warned everyone to remove jewellery as the waves could dislodge, or damage them. Everone complied with his instructions and paddled out into the sea; whan Graham got out into water that came up to his knees, he was hit by a wave from behind. He opened his mouth to say something, only to be hit by another wave, the power of which duly launched his teeth, at great speed, into the water. The group then spent an hour an a half looking for his teeth, to no avail ! - So….. if you ever visit Percheles beach and see a really good looking fish with a great smile and a super set of gnashers…. you will know where he got them from !!! The family who are present today include, obviously, Laurie, Son Simon and Daughter in law Louise, Daughter Sarah and Son in law Pete; also in attendance are Simon’s Mum Sue and Niece Chloe. Graham leaves eight wonderful grandchildren… Stephen, Jenna, Nikki, Scott, Mikey, Samantha, Lauren and Sam and two precious Great grandchildren, Isla and newborn Cacey, who is just two month’s old. Graham insisted on having a photograph of Cacey on his locker in the hospital, and took great delight in telling everyone about her ! What else can we say about this precious man ? His love for music included Queen, Elvis and Supertramp, although he loved a variety of music, especially from the sixties. He was a fussy eater but loved a curry and was the crowned BBQ King… that is, as long as he was the one cooking and wearing the silly Tarzan apron that Sarah got for him. He loved football and always was a Chelsea fan… he never wavered from supporting them, although he never was a big attender of matches, he was a faithful tv supporter of their games. Graham was described as ‘always laid back and chilled’, always ‘life’s gentleman’. He was a man with loads of patience and nothing seemed to phase him, even with impatient grandchildren in the car and sending grandma mad with their ‘are we there yet’, he would remain calm and continue driving on to their destination. Graham was known in Steam Circles as ‘Chuffing Lewis’ and by one person in particular as ‘Little Laddie Lewis’, but mostly just known as Graham. This April would have been Graham and Laurie’s 25th Wedding Anniversary and the family are already booked to come out to celebrate. This will still happen and the family will celebrate together just what a wonderful man Graham was. Graham, you will be so sadly missed by all those who loved you so dearly – Thank you for being the man you were… we celebrate your life and all that you achieved. You will leave a large footprint in our lives. God bless you