Funeral Notices

Eulogy read out at the service .... written by Paul Hackett I first met Jeff back in 1990 when he was one of a few individuals that were part of a scheme to give interested people the chance to try for a career in the NHS as a mental nursing assistant ( as they were called in those days ) . Jeff had been working on building sites as a carpenter all over the country and fancied the opportunity to change his lifestyle AND to stay at home more . The appointment was initially for 6 months and Jeff impressed enough to get a permanent contract . At that time him and Anne had a young family to support and he thrived on the job , eagerly picking up any extra shifts he could to provide for his family . He and I hit it off instantly and found that we both had daughters named Leah . I was privileged to visit his home on many occasions where I witnessed Jeff at home , a loving and devoted family man . That said , Jeff liked his own company and would regularly talk fondly about his shed where he had 'Jeff time' . He and his family were generous with their time and would've given you their last penny if they could . The ambience that him and his beloved Anne created in their Melling oasis was lovely to experience as his friend . Jeff would stop at nothing to provide something special for his family and for a time he actually installed a decent sized above-ground pool in his garden which was very popular with his family . At work Jeff had a great work ethic and would always 'put a shift in' ... such was his love of work(and what it provided) was that as his manager he was reluctant to put in ANY requests for annual leave , so much so that I would have to insist on putting annual leaves in for him , sit him down and come to an agreement with him to agree an annual plan to take every 13th shift off leaving him working 3 shifts per week AND to nominate weeks when he would be completely off , something he always found difficult . Jeff reminded me of myself in that he was friendly with all but didn't have enduring friendships with colleagues outside work and largely restricted social interactions to the many staff get togethers. Work-wise Sept 17 2001 was probably the most difficult day of the nursing careers of all the staff in duty as we had the massive task of dealing with an aggressive patient who was out of control but who critically had martial arts expertise which meant that he caused absolute carnage on the ward and injured several staff . In that crisis Jeff was supremely courageous as he repeatedly tried to help subdue this individual despite incurring personal hurt on several occasions. He was truly a colossus on that night and he conclusively proved his ability to step up for his team in a crisis . Alongside his bravery Jeff has showed himself over the years to be a very good ( and vastly underrated by many) communicator with his clientelle ... it is a fact that , upon hearing of his passing , I have had several service users express their devastation at his passing , praising Jeff as being 'one of those staff we could talk to knowing he would listen and do his best for us' ... some contacted discharged friends who also wanted made known how much they valued his contribution to their lives . A couple of service users were actually (like myself) emotional on hearing the sad news . In regard to his colleagues many have passed on their feelings to me as to how Jeff was a trusted and valued work colleague , also highlighting that he was rarely downbeat in his dealing with staff or service users . One staff member recalled that Jeff would talk with much enthusiasm for most things and ( in regard to his love of cycling ) recalled him excitedly talking for an hour on the subject of a bicycle frame that he was keen to buy oblivious to the fact that the subject matter was niche to him (another shared idiosyncrasy there). Looking at other emotional reactions I recall Jeff one night noticeably upset and I genuinely thought that a relative of his must have passed away but the actual cause of his angst was the passing of one of his heroes , a certain Frank Sinatra . The stress his death caused him to accelerate the contact of his speech (AND the degree of difficulty for this woollyback to properly understand him) ! Musically Jeff had a broad taste and loved the heavy metal genre but was equally at home listening to classical music . Others have recalled that Jeff showed that he had a tremendous knowledge about buildings in the Liverpool area ... I always found him to be a good conversationalist and a definite intellectual and teller of a good tale ... the more excited he was about a story the quicker he used to speak where I initially found his Alien language ( scouse ) to be harder to understand ... that said , the longer I knew him the better I got at it . Many have mentioned as to how positively Jeff would respond when seeing you ... he was definitely a half-full person in that respect . We once had a conversation about longevity and discovered that we both had a belief that we wanted (and intended) to live to 100 ... until his passing I had little doubts that Jeff would have a great chance of reaching that goal . He was legendary within the Trust for his ability to attend work in all weathers on his beloved bike ,he was a strong as an ox and hated being off work to such an extent that he had been known in the past to return weeks before expectations irrespective of whether he had a serious condition or not . Another positive trait of Jeff's' life was that he never lost his ability as the carpenter he was in his younger years .He always did everything to a high standard and was attention to detail ... his work included him building wardrobes and gates to order as well as being excellent in all forms of DIY . He completed work allayed to a generosity to ask for very little financial reward for his efforts . His appetite was also legendary within the ward as he would regularly bring in high quality steak and chicken but would happily 'hoover up' any spare food that no-one wanted ... a bottomless pit of Scouse indeed ! In conclusion , I have personally been overwhelmed by the positive reaction of his colleagues and service users as to their appreciation for Jeff's' work ethic and contribution in his 30+ years service with the National Health Service ... together we can mourn his passing and he was definitely one of the finest human beings that I have ever encountered in my life and he will never be forgotten by those of us whose path he crossed .Gone at 66.6 years he has lived almost two thirds of the century he hoped to reach . I'm hoping that I'll get to that milestone to raise a glass in his memory on behalf of both of us !