FUNERAL SERVICE FOR
VIVIAN EDWARD (TED) KENT
4.6.1928 - 10.3.2014 (85yrs)
WERRIBEE FUNERALS
@ WERRIBEE CHAPEL / 10 am
MONDAY 24th MARCH 2014.
OPENING MUSIC “Green Green Grass Of Home”
WELCOME
I would like to welcome you here this morning as we gather to pay
tribute to the life of TED KENT. We come not only to mourn his
death but also to celebrate his life and to be thankful for what he
meant to each of us. My name is Phil Hughes, I’m a civil celebrant,
and in conjunction with the staff from WERRIBEE FUNERALS it is
an honour for me to lead this service today.
Many of you are gathered here today because you are close family of
TED, others I’m sure supporting those family members and some
because you have known him perhaps through work days, Probus,
Bowling, certainly as a neighbour and friend. I know TED’s family
remain grateful for your support in recent days and your presence
here this morning
Announcements. The entire service today will be conducted here in
the chapel. At the end of the service you are invited to join family for
light refreshments here at Werribee Funerals. There is a record of
attendance sheet to sign. Mobiles off please.
Our thoughts today go out to Graeme / Jill, Sandra / Bernie, to grand
children and partners Matthew, Ben / Kate, Lucinda / Aaron, Ryan /
Veronica, Natalie / Shane, Chantelle / Jason, to great grand children
Liam, Drew, and Xavier, Milana, Izaac and Tiana. Each of you will
have fond memories of someone who has played an important part in
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your life journey.
Last Wednesday I met with Sandra and Bernie to plan for the service
today. Lots of happy memories were shared together.
Ted’s leaving us has been quite sudden and unexpected. Many here
know that he was June’s carer and he did an amazing job looking
after his loved wife. Sadly he passed away at home on 10.3.2014.
The carers from Wyndham Council, and here I’m talking about
Carmel and her team had been offering great support to both,
discovered Ted had passed away peacefully at home. Although it
was hard on Ted’s loved ones for him it happened without struggle.
He just went to sleep. Today we gather to recount the good years
shared together.
I would also mention today the work that Bernie has done for Ted and
June in the last few years. Bernie didn’t ask me to say this but the
support in so many different ways Bernie has provided has made it
possible for Ted to remain at home caring for June. Bernie and
Sandra, along with the wonderful council support team, helped Ted
achieve his goal.
EULOGY
Early Life
TED was born on 4.6.1928 in Geelong the baby of ten children to
parents George and Agnes. He was the last of his siblings to leave
us. 1928 - this was the year 2000 people jammed into Leggett’s
Ballroom to compete in the Victorian Amateur Dance
Championships; the Flying Doctor Service was started in out back
Australia; penicillin was discovered by the Scottish Scientist
Alexander Fleming; the actress Shirley Temple was born;
Collingwood beat Richmond in the VFL Grand Final; and the top of
the hit parade is : "Ol' Man River" But of course none of this
mattered to baby TED who came into the world.
School and Work
Ted attended St Pat’s Catholic School in Geelong. Leaving school,
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we believe, his first job was in the Geelong Woollen Mills. After a
period there he joined Ford Motor Company where he worked in
upholstery. His main working years however were at Shell. Ted
worked night shift for many years and often told stories of his happy
days there.
Marriage and Homes
It was while working at the Woollen Mills that Ted met his wife to be
June. They were married in January 1946 at the Wesley Church in
Melbourne. After a short stay with June’s brother, George, the newly
weds first home was with Ted’s mum while they saved for and built
their first house amid post WW11 shortages and rationing. It was
1951 when they moved to this home in Herne Hill in Geelong. This
would be Ted and June’s family home for the next 35 years.
Two children Graeme and Sandra were born to the marriage. They
loved their children and were proud of their achievements. When
grand children arrived the pride and happiness only increased.
After Ted retired he and June lived on Sandra and Bernie’s hobby
farm at Tarneit. Ted enjoyed these years working around the farm
doing various jobs including livestock management, fencing, painting,
irrigation, sewerage, construction projects and of course growing his
vegetables.
It was 1994 that ted and June moved into their home at Outlook drive
in Werribee. And they remained there for the next 20 years.
Work Continued..
Following Shell, Ted joined Primal Chemicals in Geelong. This was a
company involved in manufacturing flexi-glass. Then after a few
years there Ted’s final years of work were again at Ford where he
packed parts for export. He retired in the early 1980’s after years of
dedicated work although the truth is he kept up his working days on
the hobby farm for the best part of 10 years and he loved it. With the
collapse of Pyramid during this stage of their lives, Ted and June both
worked as “lollypop” men to make up for their losses.
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Life Interests
When we talked about life interests the first thing mentioned was
Ted’s enjoyment of playing golf. A lot of his golf was played at
Queens Park Golf Club in Geelong. He also enjoyed playing lawn
bowls for many years. His bowling started at Bareena in West
Geelong and then in his final years at Werribee. Ted loved his bowls
and kept at it until his knees gave way on him.
Sandra recalled their holidays times at Portarlington in earlier times.
In fact for close to 13 years they stayed in the caravan near the
beach and loved it. What made it even better for Ted was his
enjoyment of fishing. He had 3 boats over the years in his quest for
the legendary Schnapper. Unfortunately the Schnapper remained
elusive but he got a great deal of enjoyment out of bringing home lots
of flat head. These fish were cleaned, filleted and skun, then shared
with family and friends. When in over abundance, Ted would BBQ
hundreds of little fillets for their camping neighbours and visitors – a
real fish feast!
Another long time passion for Ted was his garden. He was an avid
vegetable grower, much of which was given away to others. His
garden was always well manured. I heard he developed an
“innovative” composting machine. In theory it was excellent in
practice it succeeded in flinging manure everywhere including into
June’s hair I believe!! The device was new inventions material apart
from the fact that it spread shit like a windmill! A big part of Ted’s
enjoyment in the garden was being able to share what he had grown
with people. So many benefited over the years. When the garden
beds were raised it made gardening somewhat easier and safer for
Ted, enabling him to continue with his passion as his knees got
weaker.
Ted’s ingrained frugal nature led to much of his inventiveness and his
passion to patch or or fix anything that hadn’t given him at least 10
years service!. In his later years, Ted became involved in the Probus
Club at Werribee. He enjoyed the various activities, programs and
interactions with others over the years.
Character
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When I met with Sandra and Bernie I asked them to suggest the
words they would use to describe Ted. These are the ones they
used:
A natural sense of humour
A very supportive man of others
None more than to his loved wife June. Ted has been her
dedicated carer now for many years.
He was generous with his support of family and friends
Would never pay a bill tomorrow if he could pay it today
A loyal person
Strong willed stubborn his daughter said
Fiercely independent.
Ted was man of his era. He grew up knowing hard times. He lived
frugally.
Ted only needed to hear a joke once to commit it to memory and then
reuse it with his own particular twist. They were not always politically
correct but Ted did not grow up in a politically correct time.
He loved June, his wife of 68 years, and his garden and dedicated
the last years of his life to these. With his job done,you can’t help
wondering whether, in his mind, this was to be the place he would
leave last of all.
TED will be sadly missed from our lives, but he will never be
forgotten.
TRIBUTES
Bernie
Natalie
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REFLECTION
A / V Presentation / Music “You Raised me Up”
Poem “Miss Me But Let Me Go”
When I come to the end of the road,
And the sun has set for me,
I want no rites in a gloom filled room,
Why cry for a soul set free?
Miss me a little - but not too long,
And not with your head bowed low
Remember the love that we once shared,
Miss me - let me go.
For this is a journey that we all must take,
And each must go alone,
It's all part of some bigger plan
A step on the road to home.
When you're lonely and sick of heart,
Go to the friends we know,
And lose your sorrows in doing good deeds
Miss me - but let me go.
COMMITTAL
Each of you today by coming to this service have acknowledged what
a pleasure it has been to share in TED’S 85 years of life. Think of the
enjoyment his company brought to you, think of how he helped you to
be who you are. His death a few days ago means we are physically
no longer able to be present to him in the same way we once were
but the influence of his life goes on in ours.
And so we can say,
We are glad he lived,
That we saw his face, heard his laughter.
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Knew those things that were only TED
We are comforted to know that he lived a good life and now any
suffering is over and his spirit is free.
Words of Committal
To the elements we commit the body of TED KENT loved one,
relative and friend. His life has made a very special mark. We are
glad he was amongst us and walked in our company. Today his life
we honour and his memory will remain with us always. We leave him
now in peace.
ENDING WORDS – TED
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 you be held in a place of deep peace.
CLOSING MUSIC “Unchained Melody”
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