Page 143 - RSDG Year of 2022 CREST

Michael Jones
Michael was a wartime baby, born in West Felton near Oswestry on 31 May 1942. He was brought up by his grandmother when Muriel, his mother, was at work. Leaving Oswestry Boys’ Modern School at fifteen, he joined the Junior Leaders and joined the 3rd Carabiniers in 1959. He very much enjoyed his six years in the army, which included
postings to the Middle East and Germany.
On leave from Detmold, he went to the Oswestry Show one August, and his attention was drawn to a young lady who had fainted and had to be taken to the Red Cross tent to recover. He went over to see if he could help, walked around with her when she felt better, and that was it. This was Catherine, whom he married In January of the following year. As she did not want to live in Germany, Michael left the Army in 1965. He then exchanged one uniform for another, as he joined the West Midlands Fire Service, and they set up home in Aston. Known there
Ian McIntyre
as Mick, he was well-liked and well-respected and he was a firefighter for thirty years, though he didn’t come through entirely unscathed, having sustained serious injury in the line of duty when a staircase collapsed under him and a colleague during an attempted rescue. In later years, he was a Fire Service Driving School Instructor and had both his HGV and PSV licences.
Michael loved to drive and, after retiring from the Fire Service in 1995, he had his own driving school and taught many of the family to drive. He was also a family man with three children, Val, Andrew and Richard. And latterly five grandchildren, Katie, Conor, Natasha, James and Bella.
He kept in touch with his former colleagues and friends from both the services he’d served in, attending Firefighters’ Social Evenings in Birmingham and Army Association events in Chester and beyond, enjoying several trips to the Menin Gate in Belgium..
Michael was a man who made a difference. He was a real character with strong principles, a great sense of humour and a loving heart. He died on 12 October 2022.
where he stopped for a break. The road between Ballantrae and Lendalfoot was a favourite.
He was a keen photographer, a member of the Paisley Colour Photographic Club and a couple of them were even published in the Herald. Ian loved to travel and his trusty camera was always there. He took thousands of pictures. He helped the local school (attended by some of his grandchildren) by giving his time and taking Christmas photos and graduation pictures of all the children. He had the pictures printed, framed and the school sold them to raise funds.
Ian also liked flying. He had had a couple of lessons, which he enjoyed and he was delighted when his three children gave him gifts of time on a flight simulator. He took this opportunity to fly bigger planes. Ian was a family man and with seven grandchildren he was never short of company and things to do which only grandads can help with.
In January 2020 Ian was diagnosed with cancer. He was told on 31December 2020 that his scan had shown ‘no cancer detected’ but by April 2021 more scans showed that it was back and had spread. He was given treatment through the rest of 2021. Ian was given two to three weeks to live in June this year. He told his friend that he was determined to still be here for his and Agnes’s 36th wedding anniversary on 12 August. He was but passed away peacefully on 28 August 2022.
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Ian was born on the Island of Bute on 1 October 1959. He was the eldest of seven children. He went to the local schools but he left as soon as he could and, at sixteen, joined the junior leaders then, at eighteen, in May 1977 he joined the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, where he became part of the MT Troop. He enjoyed his time there,
made lifelong friends who knew him as ‘Sparky’ and left the Army as a Corporal in April 1991. He was a very shy person but once Ian got to know people, they were fair game for his cheeky, ready wit. He had a wonderful personality, great sense of humour and thought he had an answer for everything. Even his grandchildren were told ‘Can’t tell you or I have to kill you’ when he really didn’t know an answer.
Ian always regretted that he didn’t stay longer at school but, in later life, he went to university in Paisley where he settled when he left the army. He completed his degree in Human Resource Management and Management. However, he soon found that he didn’t like working in an office and so went back to driving which he loved. He worked for Allied Bakeries and would send his wife, Agnes, pictures of the places