Here is a tribute written by his daughter, Janine
and spoken at his funeral
DAD
Dad’s Passing has left a huge hole in our lives, but I just want to tell you all why we loved Dad so much.
To begin with, when we were young children he had this wonderful imagination and could entertain us like no other, he even managed to turn a drive past the old power station into a trip to the land of the giants and would teach that the best thing to do when we had finished a jigsaw was to throw the whole thing in the air and shout ‘what a mess’, not only that but he didn’t even shout when I did exactly the same thing with a plate of beans on toast, these are little things that we remember, but a whole load of fun at the time!
He was a tower of strength as we were growing, always kind, generous and supportive and never strict, but knew how to care in a serious way.
He led by example with the ability to work hard and play hard at the same time, and made a successful and interesting career through pure talent and hard work. But we always knew that he had his priorities right and that the emphasis was on the Play hard bit!
He always put our feelings first, and I can remember walking back from Copley High with my Exam results to find dad flat on his back when he had first injured it and still telling me to go and get the champagne out of the fridge so we could celebrate together.
I can’t tell you the number of times when we would all laugh until it hurt, and then turn round to each other later on and only have to look at each other before bursting into fits of laughter again. His sense of humour was unsurpassed, and we are sure that through any illness that dad had, love and laughter did more for him than any pills he had to take.
In all Dad's ability to carry on having fun and be successful at everything he tried, leaves us with so much respect and admiration.
Not only was he the strongest person we have ever known but the best Dad that anyone could have wished for!
Even in the last few weeks he joked with the nurses, and half an hour before he passed away he gestured over to us to put a smile on our faces.
We know he was at peace right at the end!
One last thing is that we are going to fulfil a promise made to him years ago to play this song at his funeral, "I can see Clearly Now" by Johnny Nash, please listen to words when you hear the song and think about our Dad, thank you!
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Here are a couple of photos of Mike. The first one is a favourite of mine taken when we first starting going out with each other. I was only sweet sixteen. The second was taken in September, a few weeks before he died. Mike is in the rasta hat and wig. We were having a reunion party of the cousins on his mother's side of the family. |
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