EULOGY |
First of all thank you to everyone attending, Madge
asked me to say something today as she knows that Tom would not want any
fuss. She is a very astute lady because my guess is that she asked me
because no one would understand a word I was saying or if they did she
could continue blaming a Tom !
Thomas Doughty was born 26 November 1936, the third
and youngest son of the late Lucy and Bill Doughty and brother of the
late John Doughty and brother to Bill and Veronica. Tom was born in the
same year as Burt Reynolds, Albert Finney, Ursula Andress, Kris Kristofferson
, Brian Blessed and also Robert Redford. He was born brought up and spent
most of his life in or around Oldham/Rochdale so did not have much in
common with that bunch of infamous people , or so I thought until I read
that even Robert Redford was considered to be a scrappy kid who stole
hubcaps and lost his college scholarship because of drunkenness. I am
sure that any similarities to the kids of 1936 are purely coincidental! It is also true to say that Tom had not been in the
best of health for a long time and him and Madge became regular visitors
to hospitals, curiously enough very rarely at the same time or the same
hospital. He did not court visitors sometimes ushering them away before
they had a chance to sit down. He detested being a burden on anyone and
remained independent to the last, that said he was never unappreciative
and would want me to specifically mention Nurse Jackie Radford, his carer
Paul and in particular his little diamond. Madge and Tom bounced off each
other for 38 years but they had a fantastic understanding of each other's
needs and had a strong bond. Tom Bowler |
Lorraine and Tom Bowler