Obituaries: Former Fearns teacher dies
HANNAH HAWORTH
HANNAH Haworth died peacefully at Cherry Tree Lodge, Rawtenstall on Monday, September 24, aged 94.
She was a weaver and in her later life worked at Place & Downs Newsagent, Rawtenstall.
She enjoyed knitting, holidays, dancing at Accrington Conservative Club and gardening.
As a little girl, she loved going to the family allotment, growing vegetables and helping to look after the chickens and ducks.
She was a member of Accrington Conservative Club.
She was the wife of the late William Edward Haworth and leaves daughter Joyce and her husband Nick, grandson Michael and Laura, granddaughter Louise and Rahul, greatgrandson Denham and great-granddaughters Niamh, Molly and Aoife.
The funeral service, conducted by the Rev Penny King, was held on Tuesday, October 2, at Accrington Crematorium.
Donations to the Royal British Legion can be made via funeral director Dawn Winfield for Fred Hamer Funeral Service.
JOHN VINCENT
MR John David Vincent, of Helmshore Road, Helmshore, died at his home on Wednesday, September 26, aged 78.
John was born in Bury to his parents Nora and Jack.
He leaves his partner Susan, son Chris and his wife Carol, daughter Pamela and her husband Paul, daughter Laura, seven grandchildren, one great-granddaughter, brother Paul and sisters Jean and Anne and their families.
David was an electrical engineer being employed at Ramsbottom Paper Mill before becoming self employed.
For a short time, he worked as an electrical engineer on the cruise liners.
He enjoyed his holidays abroad and touring with his caravan.
The funeral will be held on Tuesday, October 9 with a service and cremation at Accrington Crematorium at 1.40pm, officiated by David Ireland.
Family flowers only with donations, if desired, for Rossendale Hospice c/o Josephine Durning for Johnson, Durning and Woods Funeral Service, Haslingden.
KENNETH BARNES
MR Kenneth Barnes, of Schofield Road, Rawtenstall, died peacefully in Burnley General Hospital on Wednesday, September 26, aged 93.
Ken was born in Ormerod Street in Rawtenstall to parents Ethel and Jimmy, and apart from three years serving in the Fleet Air Arm in the Second World War, spent all his life living in the town – the last 66 years being in Schofield Road.
Ken had a younger brother, Harry, who sadly passed away at the age of two.
He left Alder Grange School at the age of 14 to work at Longholme weaving shed. From there he went on to work in the footwear industry, initially for CWS in Haslingden, manufacturing slippers, before moving on to Tivoli Kay Adhesives, taking up the role of technical sales representative, from where he retired.
Although a proficient footballer, having spells playing for Bacup Borough and Accrington Stanley, he was more well known for his cricketing prowess.
He was a member of Rawtenstall Cricket Club for 83 years and watched matches whenever the weather was suitable.
Ken captained both the first and second eleven teams before retiring to become a member of the committee and a coach to the younger players.
Predominantly a batsman, Ken made his first team debut in 1941 at the age of 16 and went on to score nearly 5,000 first eleven runs, including one century.
He captained the second eleven to the league title in 1971 before retiring the following year after dislocating his shoulder. Ken was called up to serve in the Fleet Air Arm in 1943, serving in Malta, Egypt, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Australia and the South Pacific islands.
He served on the aircraft carrier, HMS Glory, on which the Japanese signed the surrender forms for the South Pacific islands.
He also took part in the Melbourne post-war victory parade.
Ken was a widower whose wife Jennie passed away in 2006 after 56 years of marriage.
Ken leaves son Peter and his wife Lisa, daughter Pam and her husband Kevin, grandchildren Andrew and his wife Shannon, Matthew and his wife Ashlee, Kirsty, Dean and partner Sophie, and Tom and partner Keeley, and his great-granddaughter Brook.
The funeral will be held on Friday, October 5 at 10am at Longholme Methodist Church, then 11.20am at Burnley Crematorium.
Following this, a celebration of Ken’s life will be held at Rawtenstall Cricket Club.
Family flowers only with donations to Rossendale Hospice or Rawtenstall Cricket Club c/o funeral director Fred Hamer.
RODNEY KEEBLE
MR Rodney Keeble passed away peacefully at Highfield nursing home on Thursday, September 27, aged 82.
He and his wife, Wendy, had just celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary on September 13.
Rodney spent all his life in the Valley.
After serving in the army where he was based in Cyprus, he started his working life as an electrician working for Jack Lord in Stacksteads.
He then worked for a number of years at Maden and Ireland.
Eventually he decided on a career change and went to college to get the qualifications he needed to train to be a teacher.
Once qualified he started work at Fearns High School in 1976 teaching Maths. One of his pupils was Jane Horrocks.
He loved his job as a teacher and loved that he could be an influence for good in his pupils’ lives. He retired from teaching in 1990.
He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and played an active role in the church serving as their Bishop for a number of years. He also loved attending the 1940s events in the area and had his own website to advertise upcoming events, through which he made many new friends.
He leaves his beloved wife Wendy, their six children Zoe, Christopher, Howard, Steven, Darren and Michael and their partners, his two brothers Derek and Colin and their families.
He also leaves 18 grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren, nephews, nieces and many cousins.
His funeral service will take place on Wednesday, October 10, at 10.45am, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Rawtenstall, followed by cremation at Accrington Crematorium at 12.20pm.
Family flowers only please with donations in lieu to Highfield Hall Nursing Home or Parkinsons UK.
Funeral director: Josephine Durning, for Johnson, Durning and Woods Funeral Service, Haslingden.