My lovely Dad

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Ermintrude, Jan 23, 2020.

  1. Sorry for your loss, chin up Lisa! :(
     
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  2. Pudelwagen

    Pudelwagen Supporter

    Sad news but you must feel deservedly proud of him.
     
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  3. Fruitcake

    Fruitcake Supporter

    So sorry to hear your news Lisa. I've just read the piece in Grimsby Live and you must be very proud of your Dad, he was clearly a "man amongst men". Treasure the memories and consider yourself lucky to have had such a great man as a father x.
     
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  4. Sympathies Ermie to you and yours. Bless.
     
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  5. Dubs

    Dubs Sponsor supporter extraordinaire

    Sorry for your loss @Ermintrude :(

    He sounds like a proper legend that touched the lives of many.
     
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  7. I always have done, he was always my hero I just didn’t realise he was to a lot of other people too.

    I still wish I could’ve convinced him to come to techenders, he would’ve loved it chatting about old cars, getting grubby and having a pint or two with other daft buggers x
     
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  8. Sorry to hear of your loss:(
    Sounds like he was a real character,
    Chin up and have some more whiskey
     
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  9. Lisa, hopefully you take great comfort and eventually happiness from having such a good relationship with your dad - not many people can say their dads were their hero.
     
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  10. Isn't every little girls first love her dad?
    Don't get me wrong he was far from perfect, he was rubbish at DIY unless it required angle iron and 10 inch fasteners and he also loved old yank cars (I tried to sway him towards the German ones). Dad's final journey will be in a white vintage Chevy.

    Just found this pic of him up Snowdon sharing his snap :)
    WhatsApp Image 2020-01-24 at 18.45.35.jpeg
     
  11. Sad news Lisa, love from me and Ann
    x
     
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  12. So very sorry to hear of your sad loss Lisa, cherish those positive memories of Dad. Love and Best wishes Phil and Ali xxx
     
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  13. Two weeks ago today we were invited to head office by dad's bosses. We had no idea what to expect and walked into an empty boardroom 'How very formal' I point out, 'no, no, no not at all!' protests one of them while waving his hands in submission.
    We sit. We look at the bosses opposite and they look at us. We wait.
    And then, bless them, they broke down crying. And so did we.

    Dad had trained both of them and they were in bits, so we comforted them (v odd feeling). Daft buggers. During this bizarre meeting they told us amazing stories of what Dad did, what he meant to them and how the entire section was built up around him and his knowledge. I never knew that what he did was dangerous, "Dangerous!' says one boss "F**king Dangerous?!" and they told us about this one story which was absolute Dad...

    Apparently when molten is tipped (be aware I'm using their terms and most I know but, hey, I'm not a steelworker!) it's done so in a trench. If that trench has any moisture in whatsoever it becomes dangerous - some stuff about hydrogen building up and explosions which have to be doused by some special stuff that has to be layered accurately, carefully and quickly - this one time they were trying to do it by hand (usually the most effective way) but the moisture levels were too high and they didn't have enough time and it became too dangerous too quickly. Pete, one of the bosses, pulled the team out.

    As they were all getting to safety they saw Dad drive towards them in his Poclain (apparently this is a machine thing) with a bag of this special stuff. Dad ignored his boss and trundled towards the nearing explosion... Needless to say that man and machine successfully mitigated the explosion of molten.Phew.

    **Here is where Pete who was telling us this beamed with pride with tears still in his eyes**

    Dad turned his machine around (Poclain 360, apparently) and appeared out of the smoke - it's now sounding like a movie treatment as he's telling us -then Pete noticed that as Dad got closer he was steering with his feet while rolling a cig! Dad pulled up to the rest of the crew, put the roly in his mouth, lit it and jumped out of the cab. As he walked by Pete and the crew, with a little glint in his eye and a nod of his head, he said 'will that do for ya'?' and carried on into the cabin for a cuppa.

    And that's why dad is known as a legend and an original member of 'the panzer gang' (apparently they are mythical beasts on Scunthorpe steelworks) :D

    Oh and some of you will remember when my dad's arm was crushed a few years ago at the steelworks? well apparently, while crushed, he orchestrated his own rescue! But whenever I asked him about work it was 'fine' or 'OK'. FFS

    *Lisa beams with pride, love and admiration*
     
    Last edited: Jan 24, 2020
  14. Faust

    Faust Supporter

    What a guy ..only come up so often ...would of gone down a treat at techenders ....The Poclain 360 is a French Version of a JCB but red instead of yellow .
     
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  15. Apparently when they 'upgraded' to the newer electronic Poclain versions, Dad refused. His was the best condition and best maintained so they allowed him to keep his. We were told that he could 'make that thing sing and dance for him'. He used it to lift 10 tonne when it was only capable of 2T - they allowed this because of his skills and it meant that one of the furnaces was down for only a few hours rather than the 3 days they'd predicted. It costs them £35K per hour when a blast furnace goes offline.

    Dad was always 'greasing his machine' (seriously, how did they not expect me to snigger? chip off the old block here!) and he was known for putting the grease on the bottom of empty water cups and placing them on visiting dignitaries hard hats from his elevated cab position. Now I know where my refusal to defer to authority comes from! :D

    We never knew all this about dad, he truly was one in a million (we knew this). We knew he was ace because he was an ace dad but never knew this stuff.

    There was talk of his whole section closing out of respect for and so everyone could attend his funeral but we have purposefully booked it for after 1pm on a Friday so they can all come and not close down. Dad wouldn't have wanted that, he worked hard on keeping those furnaces going! There will be oranges for all as he was renowned for chucking his pips at folk and denying it :D.

    We have been warned that there may be hundreds turn up. Just as long as there's enough whiskey to go round...
     
    Last edited: Jan 24, 2020
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  16. Merlin Cat

    Merlin Cat Moderator

    What an awesome way to mitigate the sadness. It’s like every time you think about your loss there is someone new, telling you how fab your dad was, to pick you up and turn your sadness to pride. Xxx
     
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  17. it's true. we were given a tour of where he worked and when shown his lockers I burst into tears - he and they fully expected him to return after xmas - 'How do you think WE feel' his boss says 'seeing his lockers everyday?' They have told us that we can take the lockers, not just the contents but the actual lockers as they're a constant reminder to them that he's not there.

    Admittedly I did feel a bit of 'hang on a mo, he was MY dad' grief top trumps but I get it, they were his other family. They were the ones they called in when things went wrong, they relied on each other for their lives. But having not known this I did feel a bit of jealousy that all these hairy-arsed steelworkers were also claiming their love for MY dad. oops. turns out he was just f***ing awesome to everyone! xx

    Still really bloody sad though and would trade in everything to have a time machine right now x
     
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  18. Jack Tatty

    Jack Tatty Supporter and teachers pet

    Dressed appropriately for being up a mountain I see :D
     
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  19. mikedjames

    mikedjames Supporter

    Sorry to hear about your dad.
     
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  20. Absolutely, He had a fleece! :D
     
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