I’m fairly indifferent to the two big name deaths in the news today. I didn’t know them and they didn’t know me.
However, I got to hear about two people who I knew slightly having recently died.
The first is Mrs. Margaret Beatrice Millican, who died in March. I only met her for fifteen minutes but she made a big impression. I was involved doing technical stuff in a weekend conference in the Pavilion Gardens complex(The Octagon Room and the Paxton Suite) circa 1995 and noticed on Friday evening that the friends of the Buxton Opera House met every Saturday morning for coffee mornings with guided tours of the theatre. Sadly, that particular Saturday, they were short of volunteers and weren’t in a position to do any tours. Anyway, Karen and I chatted happily with her about the Trust, the Theatre and frank Matcham. Recognising a kindred spirit, she offered to give us a whistle-stop sneak into the Dress Circle which we gratefully accepted. (I was able to have a much more thorough visit last year). Googling her, it seems she was a pillar of the community, having been Mayoress of High Peaks in the 1970s, an MBE and eventually becoming one of the Theatre’s Patrons. I found out today when my copy of the Frank Matcham Society newsletter arrived.
A lot closer to home was a man known to most people as Kenny the Caretaker, the custodian of the building across the road from our Head Office where we lease some of the floors. He was a small man, quiet, unassuming and of uncertain age but he did his work reliably and conscientiously. Once he felt comfortable with me he was happy to open up and chat but from what I could piece together it seemed that he lived a somewhat solitary life in a Council flat and his main companion was the Wireless.
He died at home whilst we were on holiday in America and I’m told that he was found in the bathroom, having filled a bath but then collapsing. He has died intestate and no relatives have been found yet. Apparently he will be buried in a pauper’s grave after twelve months and his estate (if any) will go to the State. The circumstances of his death are rather sad because he was a very dignified man in life.
I don’t want him to pass on unremembered so this a very small, probably ill informed tribute. Kenny, you were very trusting and helpful to me with access and keys when we did projects in the building over the years. I’ll miss you saying hello whilst sweeping the stairs, I’ll regret not being able to knock on the door of your “office” (the cupboard under the stairs with the gas meter in) and finding you inside. I’ll miss waving to you picking up litter if you saw me when walking or driving past.
Kenny, you may be gone, but you are not forgotten. I hope that the celestial Council have done a better job on your heavenly kitchen than yours did in real life. Hopefully the angelic buses are more reliable for you in the afterlife as well.
Whenever I hear this song, I’ll think of you.
I am glad that the deaths of two people, who did cross your lives in person, mean more to you than the two very public figures who died on the same day recently. I shake my head at the non stop coverage of one or the other on the news.
Nice tribute to the both, especially Kenny, who many would think was of no account, but who lived his life and did his job as you say, conscientiously and with dignity.
The thing that most disappointed me about Kenny was that I’d been back at work two weeks and nobody had mentioned it to me in that time.