Tribute to David Jordan It has been a pleasure for my family and I to have lived next door to David for over 30 years. It is a measure of our respect for him that even now we all find it more natural to refer to Mr Jordan even though he was entirely comfortable with being addressed directly as David. When I first moved in next door number 24 was occupied by David, Bettye and Henry the dog. Henry! Henry! was often heard. David and Bettye were frequently in the garden or out in the car on short trips. The smile on Bettyes’ face and the enthusiastic greeting or waving as they drove past showed they both loved to be out and about and it meant a lot to them both. He was rightly very proud of his beautiful garden and lawns which he maintained entirely himself. It involved many hours of work but the result was well worth it. The biggest annual task in the garden was the annual trimming back of the laurel bushes undertaken with secateurs and a stepladder only (no electric power tools here!). Every year in late summer we marvelled at how he set about the task and over the course of several days the job was completed with all waste bagged and removed. It was huge annual undertaking but the difference before and after was remarkable. It was only up until very recently he needed help with the garden but with his supervision his high standards were maintained. He loved birds visiting the garden, wasn’t too keen on cats but definitely didn’t appreciate moles calling by. One particular mole over many weeks proved difficult to remove and became a real nuisance. An unexpected knock on the back door one day was a beaming and delighted Mr Jordan expressing his new found appreciation of our cat Sebastian who had the offending mole in his grasp. What a fantastic cat! He told me he would no longer shoo the cat away from his garden preferring him to be on constant mole patrol. He used to let us know when he wanted a word or was telling us when he was going to Australia in a most unusual fashion – we would hear a knock but not see anyone through the glazed side door – a second knock and on opening Mr Jordan was there leaning over the fence and tapping on the side door with a broom handle. We got use with this as his standard knocking method as it saved him walking all the way round. He got used to returning and throwing back balls from the local Sunday morning football team or from my kids but he always took this in good spirit and he never complained about noisy kids parties in the garden over the years. Music was very important to him and classical music could often be heard which obviously gave him such pleasure. A gentle unassuming gentleman who valued his privacy yet was always eager to engage in conversation and catch up on family developments, talk about Australia or other matters. News of his passing was very sad news but this is tempered by the thought that he is now he is with his wife Bettye whom he adored and to whom was very devoted. You will always be remembered by us. RIP David. David Jenni Sam Ben and Poppy Rayson