Loving and caring husband of Val and a special dad and granddad.

Dad we will miss your gentle and caring ways.

You always listened and had a kind word to say.

Dad we will miss you more than we can say.

Dad you will be in our hearts and thoughts always.

Our memories of you will never fade.

Each and everyday as we remember you,

we will smile at those memories we share of you.

No good byes dad, only see you later!

Because wherever you are I will, we will all go later

And be together again.

For nothing loved is ever lost

The Eulogy

Michael Willcox 1940 – 2008

      Mick, referred to by some as Wilk or Wilko, Born 17^th may 1940,

      christened Michael Willcox; his Mum and Dad, Hilda and Horace,

      who he loved dearly, decided not to give him a middle name.

      As an only child he might have been a spoilt brat but quite the

      opposite; he was the most even tempered and naturally caring

      man I have known; which is why I wanted to make this tribute.

     To many just an ordinary man and yet in many ways he was

     quite extra-ordinary. A man of high morale standards and an

     excellent role model for anybody who came into contact with

     him.

     A one woman man, he and Val met in their late teens; were

     married in 1963 and set up home in Blaby where they have

     stayed to this day.

     A father of two, Steve the eldest, followed 18 months later by

     Paula, he doted on his kids and they wanted for nothing. They

     have both given him Grandchildren, Steve and wife Lek, 5 year

     old Oak, who was born in Thailand and Paula and husband

     Gary, two Grandsons, Scott 20 and Sam 18 and a

     Granddaughter, Megan 14. needless to say, Mick and in

     particular Val, have done their best to spoil all of these.

     I think recently, especially with Lek and Oak coming over from

     Thailand to live with Mick and Val, their Grandchildren have been

     a real Godsend in what has been a dreadful time for them both.

     Cancer is a horrific thing and it robs us of so many lovely people

     ahead of their time. In Mick’s case the only scant consolation, if

     there could be any such thing with Cancer, would be that he did

     not suffer any pain.

     I think he was also extra-ordinary in his many activities, his laid

     back approach to things always in evidence in every thing he did.

     His first love and probably his greatest was fishing, to the extent

     that he and his life-long friend and side-kick Dave, before they

     were married, used to take their then Girlfriends, Val and tree,

     along with them, not to fish but to watch. Val tells me that she and

     Tree used to sit on the river bank and on a little meths burner cook

     fry-ups. ( sounds like fun!!)

     on more than one occasion Mick (and family) went fishing with

     Terry and Jill in Ireland and having given it up for many years he

     Took to it again more recently with grandson Sam. I’m not sure

     Who encouraged who the most but Mick would not need much

     encouragement to pick up his beloved rod and reel and spend time

     with his Grandchildren.

     For a quiet man he loved to compete but in his inimitable,

     unflappable style he was a good loser and always magnanimous in

     victory, be it one of his many activities, cards, skittles, darts,

     snooker, golf or just life itself. In the words of Kipling he was man

     enough to meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two

     impostors just the same.

     For a short while back in the 60s and 70s along with me and a

     couple of other mates he took to supporting Leicester City and we

     traveled home and away for a couple of seasons at least. We had

     a good team in the then first division at that time and I remember

     we followed some good cup runs which made it all worthwhile.

     They were halcyon days and many of us here today will have

     shared some of these with Mick.

     One of the things people of his generation have been able to enjoy

     and Mick was no exception, is holidays and more so in later life he

     enjoyed holidaying with friends and relatives both in the UK and

     abroad. In particular, I know he really loved visiting his son and

     holidaying in Thailand. He was full of it when he returned and this

     probably explained why his son, Steven, had fallen in love with the

     place.

     I suppose you could be lead to believe that somebody as laid

     back as Mick might have been lazy but not a bit of it. Like his

     dad before him he had a job in Engineering and worked as a

     Draughtsman. He used to cycle to work, was a good

     homemaker, doing most of the decorating and DIY around his

     home and kept a clean and tidy garden. He also preferred

     reading and listening to music rather than sitting in front of the

     box.

     Mick would never take life or himself too seriously and I think

     he coped well with being twice made redundant. On the

     second occasion at the age of 59 he decided to retire from full

     time occupation. Val, it would seem, had other ideas and used

     to give Mick a daily list of household chores which he had to

     tick off. I don’t know if he got paid but Mick being Mick he

     never complained. He did, however, go and get himself a little

     part time driving job (to get out of the house no doubt) fetching

     and carrying hairdressing products and I think he quite enjoyed

     flitting around the county in his little van.

     How much can you say about the life of someone in 10

     minutes or less; very little of course. It goes without saying he

     was a kind, affable, generous and extremely likeable man but

     if I had to sum up Mick in a single sentence, I’d say:

He was the gentlest of Gentlemen and will

be

oh so greatly missed.

                                                                 EULOGY

                                                                          By Bill Randell

A total of £745.00 was gratefully received from family and friends in Lieu of flowers in memory of Dad and forwarded to the Cancer Research UK.

Only good memories remain of the gentlest of Gentlemen my Dad.

 Rest in peace Dad

                                                                   Love Steve x x x