Pete Smith

Peter Smith (Pete) - husband, dad, grandad, father-in-law, son, brother, brother-in-law, uncle and friend and very proud to be all of the above to those he knew and loved. Pete enjoyed a simple life, no unnecessary complications where they could be avoided, a quiet man of simple tastes and requirements from life, with family at the core of each and every day.

Pete was born on 4^th December 1935 and spent his childhood living in Eastoft Road in Luddington with his parents Reg and Mary-Alice. He attended school at Luddington and St Norberts in Crowle and used to remember the discipline handed out by the nuns very well. It wasn’t until he was sixteen that he was joined by a baby brother, Anthony (or Tony as he was usually known), who sadly died in March 2023.

On leaving school Pete went to work as a farm labourer at Browns in Luddington and then when he turned eighteen the time came for Pete to complete his National Service, and life became a little less simple for a while. Initially posted to Germany as part of the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment, he spent time in Berlin before being shipped out to Malaysia. Spending time in the jungle and being close to the local wildlife (snakes and spiders in particular) were not one of his highlights of that time and certainly sampling the local food didn’t feature at all (his taste in food was always of the meat and two veg type and certainly nothing spicy or garlicky)! He existed on army rations and pineapple (probably where he developed his lifelong liking of the fruit) – definitely keeping it simple! Nonetheless, good friends and memories were made during that period, and it is something that he was glad he had experienced. He was very proud of the service medal and veterans’ badge that he was awarded to mark that period of his life.

On his return to Luddington Pete returned to the farm but then found employment at the steelworks in Scunthorpe, and then working down the ironstone mines as an electrician’s mate (ironic really as years later when Ashley was small and had just found out that he was colour blind, Dorothy commented how strange as no-one else in the family was colour blind to which Pete replied ‘well I am’. All those years and he had never told her and managed to do a job where it’s quite important to know what colour wires he was connecting!). This job wasn’t something that he particularly enjoyed, and he soon found a job far more enjoyable at L Harrison and Co in Eastoft. One of Pete’s main roles at Harrisons was as a digger driver, travelling to sites all over the local area to carry out excavation works for the firm (and digging up the occasional cable or pipe!). He spent over twenty-five years working there, receiving a gold watch in 1995 to mark his long service with them, before retiring in 2000.

The year 1961 saw the start of Pete’s lifetime partnership with Dorothy. They had both been born and brought up in Luddington so already knew each other, but it was at Crowle Fair that their courtship started. Despite a nine-year age gap the relationship blossomed and on 13^th March 1965 they were married here in this very church – the start of a long and happy marriage that saw them celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary earlier this year with a small family gathering and a card received from the King and Queen. Quite an achievement to spend sixty years with the same person and make it look so simple!

After a honeymoon in London, Pete and Dorothy started married life at number 4 Meredyke Road, Luddington and soon after their only daughter, Helen, was born. He was incredibly proud of his new daughter and continued to be throughout his life, even though there were sometimes disagreements along the way such as when she wanted to have her long hair cut or her ears pierced – much persuasion was needed on both occasions to get his approval! As a father he kept it simple and straightforward but if he raised his voice Helen always knew that she was really in trouble.

Pete worked hard and often long hours to provide for his family but always made sure there was time to spend with them as well. After a Sunday morning at work, there were often trips out with Dorothy and Helen in the afternoon, maybe a ride to Cleethorpes, Hibaldstow for an ice cream, a garden centre or for a relaxing few hours across to Burton Hills – simple things but invaluable family memories. There were the annual family holidays also to look forward to, in the early years Scarborough was always a favourite, often along with their friends Christine and Roy and their son Stephen, with a trip later in the year to see the Blackpool illuminations. As time went on, they started to venture further afield and St Ives in Cornwall became another favourite family destination.

Spending time and trips out with extended family also featured prominently in Pete’s life. Before Pete and Dorothy invested in a colour TV, visits to his parents’ house on Eastoft Road included those afternoons when football was being shown on TV and he could go and watch it in full colour. He also enjoyed spending time with Dorothy’s parents, both at their home further down Eastoft Road and on days out to the seaside. Also, over the years he has remained close to his brother-in-law Bill and his late wife Jean, his sister-in-law Ann and her late husband Geoff, and his nieces and nephews Graham, Freda, Paul and Sarah and their spouses and children. Pete’s late brother Tony never lived in quite such close proximity but Pete always enjoyed the visits to each other’s homes and spending time with his wife Geraldine and their children, Samantha, Patrick, Matthew and Marie.

In 1980 Pete and Dorothy had the chance to buy some land from a neighbour and made the decision to make the big move a few hundred yards down Meredyke Road from where they were living, and build a new bungalow, Edelweiss, where they have lived ever since. Working for a building company helped and of course Pete was on hand with his digger to help dig the foundations for his new home. He later did the same for Helen and Daryle when they built their bungalow – a simple gesture that meant so much to them. After the hard work building their new home, then began the equally hard work of creating a garden for them to enjoy. He’d never really been that much of a gardener before then, but his love of gardening took hold from there and he created a beautiful garden with Dorothy that they have enjoyed together over the years.

In June 1986 Pete was a proud father when he walked Helen down the aisle at her wedding, and Pete and Dorothy gained a son-in-law in Daryle. He was even more proud a few years later when his first grandchild, Daniel, was born and then three years later when Ashley came along. He loved spending time with both grandsons, providing babysitting services along with Dorothy on numerous occasions, taking them on days out and even being brave enough to take them for a few days in Scarborough during school holidays. He watched, helped and supported them both from being tiny to grow into the kind, caring, thoughtful and loving men they have become today. And when Ashley got married to Tina in April 2023, he was thrilled that he also then had the granddaughter that he’d never had before.

In his younger days, Pete liked a drink (or two or more!) and frequented the pubs in Luddington and further afield around the Isle and local areas. He enjoyed a game of dominoes and belonged to a village pub team, travelling around competing in the local pub league and cup competitions – in his time he won a fair few trophies for his domino playing! He also played both football and cricket for the Luddington teams and again collected various trophies along the way.

Pete and Dorothy also used to enjoy frequenting the pubs and clubs in the village and surrounding areas together, often with their friends Christine and Roy, and they often used to combine this with their enjoyment of ballroom dancing. Christmas, New Year and other special events were all celebrated locally with good friends and family in the local community (The Blue Bell was where they were eventually tracked down on Boxing Day 1989 to tell them of the arrival of their first grandson, which then turned into an even bigger celebration).

Although Pete loved the simple life in Luddington, he also loved to go on holiday, with the family when Helen was younger and then later with Dorothy, often accompanied by Christine and Roy, venturing further afield when it was adults only. They visited and enjoyed many places together but strangely the two places he never expressed an interest in returning to were Germany and Malaysia where he had completed his National Service. Always a sun lover, once they decided that travelling abroad was becoming too much for them, the place that then became their go to holiday destination in their later years was of course Scarborough, where they continued to enjoy the simple things that they had always loved about being there.

Pete always had a keen interest in sport, particularly football, cricket and horse racing. Horse racing he mainly watched on TV although he and Dorothy did enjoy a day at Beverley Races some years ago, and right up to his last few weeks when he was in Greenacres Care Home at Crowle he would put the afternoon horse racing on TV. Cricket again was a sport he often watched on TV to keep up to date on the test matches and the like but was also something that he looked forward to watching live in the summer in Scarborough, combining his love of cricket with his love of Scarborough.

Football was always a major part of Pete’s life, from playing for the local team in his younger days to watching it on TV latterly. He was always a football fan in general but when he was younger Leeds United were always Pete’s team, back in the Don Revie era and even up to the end he took a keen interest in how they were doing. He was thrilled to see them gain promotion back to the Premier League this year. However, you probably all know that for many years now Pete’s main team has been Scunthorpe United. A season ticket holder for many years with Dorothy and also his sister-in-law Ann, he has followed them through thick and thin, seeing promotions and them playing in the Championship and at Wembley, Chelsea and Manchester City, through to the recent years spent in the lower leagues and the club almost folding. It was fitting that one of the last things he was told was that his team had won their play-off final and been promoted back into the National League, hopefully a sign of better things to come - a simple conversation but one that gave so much pleasure.

Over the years many of you will know that Pete suffered several bouts of quite severe illnesses; this is really where he perhaps didn’t keep it quite so simple as over the years he mixed it up with numerous different ailments but he always battled through and managed to carry on enjoying the simple things such as regular visits to Sadie’s tea room in Crowle with Dorothy, Bill and Ann and other friends they met along the way, visits to garden centres, family time and he even used to enjoy the weekly shopping trips to the supermarket and Scunthorpe, probably because they were usually combined with coffee, cake and catching up with friends. He was still doing these simple but enjoyable things until earlier this year, but sadly since Easter Sunday his health deteriorated quite rapidly, and after an extended spell in hospital, he went to stay in Greenacres Care Home at Crowle whilst his family tried to get the help and support in place to have him at home with them.

Dorothy, Helen, Daryle and the rest of the family would like to express their thanks for the care and kindness that everyone at Greenacres showed to Pete and them during his stay there. However there was really only one place that Pete actually wanted to be and that was at home in his bungalow in Luddington with his family – back to the simple life that he has always treasured – and the whole family cannot express how grateful they are to the MacMillan and District Nurse teams that enabled them to have the pleasure and privilege of caring for Pete during his last week of life in the home that he loved.

For Pete, his eighty-nine years of life really was about enjoying the simple things, but perhaps the biggest thing that Pete didn’t find so simple was finally letting go and saying goodbye to his wife, daughter, son-in-law, grandchildren, extended family and friends.