SCRIPT FOR FUNERAL: DAVID DEACON


(MUSIC 01-etta-james-at-last-my-love-has-come.mp3  2min)

We have come here to remember David Deacon, who died on the 31st July at Lutterworth Country House, after several years of illness. He was much loved and is sorely missed by his wife Cecilia, his three sons, and by the rest of the family. We are here to remember him and to celebrate his life. I hope you heard the lyrics of the song, which was brought here from America by Celia when she first met David: "My love has come along; my lonely days are over......"

David was a man who did not like a fuss and who never used two words when one would do. He had a lifelong fascination with mechanisms and how things worked. He was an inventor and engineer; equally at home in designing a fuelling machine at a nuclear power station or the mechanism for a clock. He was kind and thoughtful, and he always considered the wishes of others before deciding what to do.

We hope to respect his approach to life in this simple and brief ceremony. 

There will be a poem, a short account of his life, and some pieces of music which will give an opportunity for quiet reflection. 


REMEMBER ME (C. Rosetti)
Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no longer hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go, yet turning stay.
Remember me, when no more day by day
You tell me of our future that you planned:
Only remember me, you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
a vestige of the thoughts that I once had, 
better by far you should forget and smile
than that you should remember and be sad.


David was born in Kirby Muxloe, Leicestershire and attended the Gateway school in Leicester. His closest friend lived on a farm, and much of his time, especially during the War, was spent there assisting with what had to be done. On leaving school with good exam results he worked briefly at Loughborough Foundry but soon realized that the opportunities there were limited, so David started nightschool with the intention of becoming a Chartered Mechanical Engineer. 

Meanwhile he began work with the Coal Board, designing pit props. He went down every colliery in Leicestershire as assistant to Mr. Priestley, the sub-area manager. He remarked several times that there is nowhere quite so dark as a coal mine when the lights are turned off.

Soon afterwards he worked for Ratby Engineering, where he worked on mechanisms for knitting and knotting. The company made machines which were used to make nets for the fishing industry. Here he met his first wife, Barbara, whom he married in 1954.  Nigel was born in 1957, Ralph in 1960 and Geoffrey in 1964.


We will now listen to a piece of piano music which David particularly enjoyed. He had a few lessons when young, and this was the first piece he learned to play.  

(MUSIC 02: Dvorak humoreske mp3  2min 30)
		


David started as a draughtsman at English Electric in the 1950s after qualifying as a Chartered Mechanical Engineer. He worked to begin with on Gas Turbines, including a turbine-powered train, but moved across to a growth area, Nuclear Power, in the mid-1960s. In the late 60s he became Office Head, in charge of about 40 people. He had married Barbara in 1954 at Glenfield, and after living in Narborough for a while, the family moved to Sutton in the Elms in 1962, where they had a bigger garden, nearby countryside, and much more space. Their children, Nigel, Ralph and Geoffrey all became interested in farming and worked on local farms in the school holidays and weekends. For several years, in his spare time, David manufactured children's go-karts which he sold to nursery schools. They were his own design, made on a series of jigs, and the parts were painted by Barbara.  He was married to her for 25 years.  


The interest in gokarts continued. David fitted a lawnmower engine on one of them, and this was used for several years by the children. Then he built a better one which went at about 25mph, which Geoffrey would use to travel to the farm where his friend lived. His miniscule figure flashing past became a familiar sight to the driver of the milk churn lorry. He was only 10 and small for his age.


David married Pamela Rees in 1981. He progressed slowly up the career ladder. He became Chief Engineer of Reactor Equipment Ltd. He attended conferences on nuclear power in Canada, America, Moscow, Japan and South Korea, and sold nuclear technology in all of those countries. He made an exciting breakthrough in the mid 1980s. At that time Sellafield was reprocessing used nuclear fuel. David invented the concept of the nuclear dry store. This was a passively cooled store for uranium oxide fuel, taking used fuel from the first-generation stations and storing it safely. The world's first was built at Wylfa [pron. WILFA] , Anglesey, and was the highlight of his career. He was made a Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and was promoted to Technical Director. Dry stores were sold in several countries including the USA and are still in use today.


David's wife became unwell and at the age of 62 he left work to look after her. They were married for 25 years until she died in 2006. In retirement he learned about longcase clocks and their mechanisms. He restored some and then designed and built several others, including two with musical chimes. Friends avoided ringing him on the hour because the repeated striking of seven clocks made conversation difficult. David was also an avid wine buyer, drinker and producer; for several years he grew vines and made an excellent red wine. 


We will now hear a short piece of music. As it plays, you can recall your favourite memories of David.

(MUSIC 03: Hertel sonata: 1 min 55)


In 2009, David met and married Cecilia Stepp, from Maryland, USA, and we were pleased to welcome her into her 'English family'. She has experience of working in politics, is a keen Republican, a voracious reader, and has a fascination with English history and heritage. She has also learned to understand the curious way in which English people speak! David and Celia had 11 happy years together, and spent a lot of time visiting historic places in England which Celia had read about but never seen. Celia's sister and grand-daughter and other members of her family have visited several times. 

David first became unwell in 2017, but he was cared for by Celia and they continued to enjoy happy times. Celia's love and care enabled him to remain at home in the face of increasing physical difficulties. He would not have been able to manage without her amazing efforts. He was able to attend the wedding of his grand-daughter Sarah to Pete Syer last year. When Amelia visited he was able to get to know his great-grandson Sebby, and he also saw photos of Keira, his new great-granddaughter.

He lived at home until April 2020, but was hospitalised after a fall and then went to Lutterworth Country House, a care home. We are very grateful to Claire and the team there for the kind way in which they treated him, and for allowing us to visit him so often in his final weeks in spite of the Covid restrictions. 


David was always keen on piano music, and our next piece was written for him last September by Nigel - a reply to the Dvorak Humoreske, which you heard earlier. 


(MUSIC 04: Variation on Dvorak's Humoreske mp3  3min 22s)



This is where we make our final goodbyes to David. We begin with ...


A BENEDICTION
Death is nothing at all. It does not count. I have only slipped away into the next room.  Everything remains as it was. The old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged. Whatever we were to each other, that we are still. Call me by the old familiar name. Speak of me in the easy way which you always used. Put no sorrow in your tone.  Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.  Let my name be ever the household word that it always was.  Let it be spoken without  effort.  Life means all that it ever meant.  It is the same as it ever was. There is unbroken continuity. Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?   I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just around the corner. All is well. Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost. One brief moment and all will be as it was before.   How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting, when we meet again.


A CELTIC BLESSING
Deep peace of the running wave to you,
Deep peace of the flowing air to you,
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you,
Deep peace of the shining stars to you,
Deep peace of the Son of Peace to you.
May the road rise to meet you;
May the wind be always at your back;
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
May the rains fall softly upon your fields.
Until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.


IN CONCLUSION:
Death is simply part of nature and as natural as life itself. All life has its beginning, its middle and its end. The death of someone close to us reminds us both of our own mortality and of others we have loved and lost. And although death separates us from those we love, they live on in our hearts and memories.


(MUSIC 05: William Walond voluntary in G minor 4min total; fade out)