A large gathering of family and friends attended John’s funeral which took place on Friday, April 5 at Parc Gwyn Crematorium, Narberth.

John passed away at Caldey Grange Nursing Home on March 19 aged 84.

John was born on May 11, 1934 and was the eldest of Jack and Louie Taylor’s five children.

He had two sisters Anne and Carol and two brothers, Mike and Terry.

The story John told was that he was born at home in the flat where his parents lived, above the shop that is now the fish and chip shop in Upper Park Road.

The family then moved to live in St Domingo Place which is where the multi-story car park is now. Another one of John’s stories was that when he came home from the Navy on leave one time, he found out the St Domingo Place had been demolished, his family had moved and no one had told him!

John went to school in Tenby becoming a ‘Greenhill boy’.

Leaving at fifteen, he then became a ‘Ganges boy’ as he joined the Royal Navy as a boy sailor. His training took place at HMS Ganges, the training centre near Shotley in Suffolk.

Discipline at that time was unbelievably harsh; boys were expected to strive towards perfection in the face of constant criticism and punishment for minor mistakes.

However, it was an environment that meant a strong camaraderie developed amongst the boys and in later life John would continue to attend the annual Ganges Reunion.

John was in the Royal Navy for twenty years in total and he loved this time in his life.

His service was actually broken into two parts as after contracting TB he had to leave but rejoined some months later after recovering. A great deal of his time was spent with the Far East Fleet and he was involved in the Korean war and also in Burma.

It was in the late fifties that John met Shirley his future wife. She was Birmingham born and bred and no one knows the circumstances in which they met – possibly John was attending a training course in the Midlands.

After they married their responsibilities soon increased with the arrival of their son Gary in 1958 followed by Jayne, David and finally Paul in 1968.

With John being away for two years at a time in the Royal Navy, his time back home needed some adjustment by all concerned – not least the children who wondered who this strange man was who had arrived in their house.

An upside for them was that John would always return home with fabulous presents for them just as he had brought gifts back for his family in earlier years. In particular, back then, he would spoil Anne his sister.

John’s departure from the Royal Navy was all to do with Paul’s birth. Being away he had missed the births of his first three children and he was determined to be there for this one.

And so he jumped ship to be there for Paul’s birth and later left the service, joining the Royal Navy Reserve. Settled in Birmingham, John did a lot for the Sea Cadets in Birmingham at TS Vernon.

Workwise, John had all sorts of jobs, from double glazing to working in a typewriter factory. And then in 1976, he and Shirley took on the tenancy of the Cross Inn in Eardisland.

They were there for three years before moving to the Three Horseshoes in Leominster and then the White Lion in the same town, leaving in 1988. During this time John was a member of the National Licensed Victualler’s Association in Leominister and was also heavily involved in the Royal Naval Association in Hereford.

Working in the licensed trade is incredibly hard work with long hours and it is a testament to John and Shirley’s relationship that they that they were not only work well together in such a demanding environment but also be successful. Sadly, Shirley was to pass away in 1999 which was a huge blow for John.

Later, John was to meet Betty at the local swimming pool where they both went swimming. They got chatting and got to know each other.

John then persuaded Betty to come down to Tenby with him when he was going to visit Anne, his sister and she found herself being talked in to coming to Tenby.

They moved in to a caravan at Lydstep and enjoyed every minute of the 10 years that they lived there.

John immediately caught up with his old school friends and he and Betty had time to enjoy the wonderful coast and of course to play golf. John loved golf, would play every morning and encouraged Betty to take it up.

He always looked forward to his grandchildren, Matthew and Danielle coming to stay with them for holidays. More recently he became great grandfather to Zoey.

During the winter, when the Lydstep site closed, John and Betty would go abroad for a couple of months, usually staying in the Algarve in Portugal.

They also enjoyed some wonderful overseas holidays including cruises.

After ten years at Lydstep and getting older, they decided it would be much more convenient and practical to move into Tenby.

When his arthritis stopped him playing golf in his seventies, John then had more time to spend on gardening which he loved.

He loved flowers especially roses and he was always interested in other people’s gardens.

The deaths of both David, his son, and Jayne, his daughter had a big impact on John.

He came from an era when men weren’t supposed to show their emotions but after the death of Jayne in particular, who he had always been very close to, John was very quiet for days and it had a lasting effect on him.

John and Betty enjoyed a lovely and happy twenty years together. They were on the same wavelength and there were never any arguments between them. He had good sense of humour and a number of sayings that would always make people smile.

One of those was, ‘it’s a good job being a postman…it’s better than walking the streets!’

Even in recent times he kept his lovely smile, the staff at Caldey Grange saying to Betty that he had ‘a twinkle in his eye and a saucy smile!’

For more than four years Betty looked after John at home before he needed the extra care that Caldey Grange could offer.

They cared for John so well and they were also very kind to Betty as well.

The funeral service was conducted by Mr. Mike Ashbridge.

John’s coffin was draped with Union Jack flag and his services medals.

The processional music was Eternal Father, then on reflection the congregation listened to Sailing By by Ronald Binge, and the recessional music was Ashokan Farewell.

There was family flowers only with donations in memory of John, if desired, made payable to RNLI Tenby c/o Funeral Directors Messrs W and M J Rossiter and Sons Ltd. The Old Rectory, The Norton, Tenby, or via the website: www.rossitersfunerals.co.uk