Eulogy
Created by Jacqui 23 days agoThomas ‘Dooley’ Godfrey
Tom was the fourth child of 6 born on 22nd March 1936. He had 3 Brothers, Jim, John, and David (known as Cyril), one sister, Mary and another sister who sadly only survived for a few weeks called Ellen. They lived at 11 Vernon Drive in Harefield with parents Alexander Jackson Godfrey and Ellen Mathews Godfrey (Nee Robertson). Tom was named after his Uncle Tom who he shared his middle name ‘Houghton’ with.
Tom was a huge sports fan. He was mad about football! He played for Hayes and also for Uxbridge which included playing in Europe. He was most proud of his 50 goals in 50 games. He broke his left leg several times, needing a plate and pins to put it back together. It was whilst in hospital recovering that he met (in his words) a lovely Nurse called Melanie Nazareth. Mel introduced Tom to ‘food with flavour’ including Chinese, Curry and…..Garlic. Tom would then cook everything with Garlic, even his egg and chips! His specialty was garlic fried banana’s! He would often try to get Alex and Jacqui to eat them, they would just run away. Mel liked them! But we all agreed we did not like his love of ‘brains’ faggots, often putting them in our pockets and throwing them out of the bedroom window, sorry Dad! A very long time later….Alex eventually tried the garlic bananas ... and…she thought it was actually quite nice! He was also partial to a raw garlic sandwich (Nobody tried that!).
Tom had lots of good friends. One who he will be happy to see again. Mick Williams, who he started school with and remained best friends with until Mick passed away in 2015. Mick was introduced to Mel’s friend Thelma who he later married, and they had lots of good times out together. He had great friends in Randi and Keith whose daughters Britt and Nina have been lifelong friends with Alex and Jacqui. We would all enjoy spending time with them all, especially playing games and eating leftovers on Boxing Day at their house.
Tom played as much football as he could, until his injury stopped him. After this he played Golf at Moor Park A LOT, went swimming, played bowls, cycled, walked a lot and watched A LOT of football matches! He couldn’t stand being indoors or watching TV. He would take Alex and Jacqui to Moor Park golf course to help him push the divots back in and they often had to sit in the bunkers and pull out all the stones. Their reward was a packet of quavers and a flat coke, followed by being let loose to roll down the hills! Something we passed onto his granddaughters!
He was surrounded by women at home, who weren’t as keen on football as him! He finally had his ‘football buddy’ when Craig joined the family and was delighted that he was Scottish to learn about new Whiskies! Even though he only ever drank The Famous Grouse and nothing else. He spoke at length to Craig about all his football achievements - it was lovely to see, and Craig very much enjoyed these chats.
He did also try to speak to his beloved Granddaughter’s Taia & Brooke about football but only when they were too young to respond!
He also taught ballroom dancing! We knew he was a good ballroom dancer but not a teacher! Something he never really mentioned until later in life.
Dad was always a bit of a joker. When he served in the Met Police (for 35 years) he would leave ‘tickets’ on people’s windscreens and watch as they noticed and then get upset, tear the ticket off and turn it over only to see the words ‘Tom Dooley was ‘Ere’. He also liked to arrange nights out called the ‘Dollygins Ball’ - drinks dancing and good fun! He was also very brave. He ran into a house that was on fire to rescue a lady from inside.
Our ‘adopted’ sister Chrissie was often giggling at Dad but was somewhat gobsmacked when he came downstairs in nothing but a towel with a hidden cucumber - Chrissie really didn’t know where to look! He also loved to do his best Stan Laurel impersonation. He really looked like him. Chrissie bought him a Stan Laurel puppet which has been hanging in the front room for decades. He was also the only person we know who could make his ears wiggle without touching them - a real talent! We could never understand how he did it.
We had some great family holidays growing up. Alex and Jacqui always remember holidays to the Isle of White. He would take them down to the beach and would always write in the sand ‘Hello Isle of White’ or ‘Goodbye Isle of White’ at the end of the holiday. Another fond memory was a holiday to Corfu. He had hired a car for the family. Bearing in mind he was 6ft 2, the car arrived, and it was a Fiat 500 - for a family of four, with luggage! It was hilarious trying to ‘fold’ everyone into it. We spent most of our time in it screaming at him to get on to the right side of the road! He didn't listen until he was beeped by passersby, ha ha .
Tom had a good circle of friends around him for a long time - he spent all of his time either playing some kind of sport or going to watch it, or eventually having to watch it on TV. Mel loved watching football with him on TV……not.
We’ll all miss Tom, Dad, Dada - he’ll be in heaven working on his goal scoring skills and smiling A LOT. Having a pint with his friends and family and a ‘Horn of plenty Ice cream dessert’ with his sister Mary.
The family would like to thank Cheryl and Janet from the bottom of our hearts for the huge support they have given to Mel, Alex and Jacqui during this difficult time.
If you would like to have a moment to think about Tom - he loved ‘Traditional Jazz’. He loved Acker Bilk (we think when he played his clarinet, he thought he sounded like him - sadly he didn’t - sorry Dad!) Glen Miller was always a favourite and he always thought Louis Armstrong’s ‘What a wonderful World’ was a beautiful song.
Rest in peace Tom ‘Dooley’ Godfrey. You gave us resilience, a strong sense of doing the right thing and above all, a wicked sense of humour! We love you always.
Tom was the fourth child of 6 born on 22nd March 1936. He had 3 Brothers, Jim, John, and David (known as Cyril), one sister, Mary and another sister who sadly only survived for a few weeks called Ellen. They lived at 11 Vernon Drive in Harefield with parents Alexander Jackson Godfrey and Ellen Mathews Godfrey (Nee Robertson). Tom was named after his Uncle Tom who he shared his middle name ‘Houghton’ with.
Tom was a huge sports fan. He was mad about football! He played for Hayes and also for Uxbridge which included playing in Europe. He was most proud of his 50 goals in 50 games. He broke his left leg several times, needing a plate and pins to put it back together. It was whilst in hospital recovering that he met (in his words) a lovely Nurse called Melanie Nazareth. Mel introduced Tom to ‘food with flavour’ including Chinese, Curry and…..Garlic. Tom would then cook everything with Garlic, even his egg and chips! His specialty was garlic fried banana’s! He would often try to get Alex and Jacqui to eat them, they would just run away. Mel liked them! But we all agreed we did not like his love of ‘brains’ faggots, often putting them in our pockets and throwing them out of the bedroom window, sorry Dad! A very long time later….Alex eventually tried the garlic bananas ... and…she thought it was actually quite nice! He was also partial to a raw garlic sandwich (Nobody tried that!).
Tom had lots of good friends. One who he will be happy to see again. Mick Williams, who he started school with and remained best friends with until Mick passed away in 2015. Mick was introduced to Mel’s friend Thelma who he later married, and they had lots of good times out together. He had great friends in Randi and Keith whose daughters Britt and Nina have been lifelong friends with Alex and Jacqui. We would all enjoy spending time with them all, especially playing games and eating leftovers on Boxing Day at their house.
Tom played as much football as he could, until his injury stopped him. After this he played Golf at Moor Park A LOT, went swimming, played bowls, cycled, walked a lot and watched A LOT of football matches! He couldn’t stand being indoors or watching TV. He would take Alex and Jacqui to Moor Park golf course to help him push the divots back in and they often had to sit in the bunkers and pull out all the stones. Their reward was a packet of quavers and a flat coke, followed by being let loose to roll down the hills! Something we passed onto his granddaughters!
He was surrounded by women at home, who weren’t as keen on football as him! He finally had his ‘football buddy’ when Craig joined the family and was delighted that he was Scottish to learn about new Whiskies! Even though he only ever drank The Famous Grouse and nothing else. He spoke at length to Craig about all his football achievements - it was lovely to see, and Craig very much enjoyed these chats.
He did also try to speak to his beloved Granddaughter’s Taia & Brooke about football but only when they were too young to respond!
He also taught ballroom dancing! We knew he was a good ballroom dancer but not a teacher! Something he never really mentioned until later in life.
Dad was always a bit of a joker. When he served in the Met Police (for 35 years) he would leave ‘tickets’ on people’s windscreens and watch as they noticed and then get upset, tear the ticket off and turn it over only to see the words ‘Tom Dooley was ‘Ere’. He also liked to arrange nights out called the ‘Dollygins Ball’ - drinks dancing and good fun! He was also very brave. He ran into a house that was on fire to rescue a lady from inside.
Our ‘adopted’ sister Chrissie was often giggling at Dad but was somewhat gobsmacked when he came downstairs in nothing but a towel with a hidden cucumber - Chrissie really didn’t know where to look! He also loved to do his best Stan Laurel impersonation. He really looked like him. Chrissie bought him a Stan Laurel puppet which has been hanging in the front room for decades. He was also the only person we know who could make his ears wiggle without touching them - a real talent! We could never understand how he did it.
We had some great family holidays growing up. Alex and Jacqui always remember holidays to the Isle of White. He would take them down to the beach and would always write in the sand ‘Hello Isle of White’ or ‘Goodbye Isle of White’ at the end of the holiday. Another fond memory was a holiday to Corfu. He had hired a car for the family. Bearing in mind he was 6ft 2, the car arrived, and it was a Fiat 500 - for a family of four, with luggage! It was hilarious trying to ‘fold’ everyone into it. We spent most of our time in it screaming at him to get on to the right side of the road! He didn't listen until he was beeped by passersby, ha ha .
Tom had a good circle of friends around him for a long time - he spent all of his time either playing some kind of sport or going to watch it, or eventually having to watch it on TV. Mel loved watching football with him on TV……not.
We’ll all miss Tom, Dad, Dada - he’ll be in heaven working on his goal scoring skills and smiling A LOT. Having a pint with his friends and family and a ‘Horn of plenty Ice cream dessert’ with his sister Mary.
The family would like to thank Cheryl and Janet from the bottom of our hearts for the huge support they have given to Mel, Alex and Jacqui during this difficult time.
If you would like to have a moment to think about Tom - he loved ‘Traditional Jazz’. He loved Acker Bilk (we think when he played his clarinet, he thought he sounded like him - sadly he didn’t - sorry Dad!) Glen Miller was always a favourite and he always thought Louis Armstrong’s ‘What a wonderful World’ was a beautiful song.
Rest in peace Tom ‘Dooley’ Godfrey. You gave us resilience, a strong sense of doing the right thing and above all, a wicked sense of humour! We love you always.