"My uncle Stanley and aunty Valerie Greenough died within a year of each other, leaving very generous legacy gifts to several charities including Alzheimer’s Society.
Stan and Val did not have any children of their own, but they were much loved by me and my sisters and cousins, so I wanted to write a short piece to remember them and to describe them as best I can from my own memories of them both.
Stan was my Dad’s younger brother and followed him into the RAF for his national service. Stan was an excellent sportsman who played rugby semi-professionally for Widnes. He also played both rugby and cricket for the RAF, which took him all over the world in various competitions and meant that his time in national service was more enjoyable than it might otherwise have been. Stan told me how he had had his nose broken so many times that he could reset it himself. He also warned me off competitive sport as it had made his knees hurt in later years, but I am sure he loved his years as a sportsman and didn’t really have any regrets.
Stan and Val were childhood sweethearts and they shared many interests including sailing, a love of good food, cycling and all things French. They were both fluent French speakers and went there often on their holidays. Stan shared my Dad’s interest in sports cars and took over Dad’s old MG TA shortly after I was born when the car was too small for our family. He owned several interesting cars including an Austin Healey ‘Frogeye’ Sprite, a Reliant Scimitar and an Opel Manta. All of these cars were used to take Stan and Val on holidays to France, returning with another year’s supply of wine.
Valerie taught French at secondary school and rose to the position of deputy head. She also studied for a Master’s degree and was invited to the Queen’s garden party in recognition of her service to teaching. She was an excellent cook and a very stylish woman with a good northern sense of humour.
Stan had worked as a lecturer in a technical college and one of his proudest achievements was having introduced CNC machine tools to the college at a time when they were quite new. He knew that his students would need to master this new technology, which is now very commonplace. Despite his achievements on and off the sports field I think Stan was proudest of Val's career achievements and it was clear that they were both deeply in love.
Stan took early retirement and when Val also retired they moved to a Lancashire, close to where I was living with my wife and young family. We used to drive over to see them and they were always very kind to my wife and our children. Part of their reason for retiring to rural Lancashire was so that they could enjoy walking and cycling in the Trough of Bowland.
As they grew older Val and later Stan developed dementia. Val’s last years were spent in a care home while Stan managed to stay in the home they both loved in the beautiful Bowland fells. They are both much missed by friends and family."
Richard Greenough 24th February 2023
