Roger Hipkin my brother in law, was one of the most courageous men that I have known. Roger Hipkin was born in Loughton in March 1936. During the war he was evacuated to Earls Colne in Essex, at the age of 3, to Herefordshire during the Blitz at the age of 5 and again during D-day at the age of 9. Fortunately he was evacuated with his elder brother Martin and some cousins. He had fond memories of playing in the countryside, despite the upheaval. After the war he started at Chigwell School, where he studied classics. He was good at sport and a keen member of the classical music club. It was probably there that he developed his passion for music and musicality. Although he hardly mentioned it, he was an extremely accomplished clarinet player for his age and fellow students have recalled how well he played difficult solo parts at school concerts. Many years later he would perform again but this time singing with the Epping Phoenix choir. At the age of 18 Roger started his national service in the Royal Engineers, stationed in Germany and at Cyprus. The engineering and problems solving skills developed in the Royal Engineers stayed with him for the rest of his life, revealing themselves in home-made contraptions and his keenness and capability to help friends and neighbours with practical challenges. At Limasol in Cypress he was lucky enough to spend a large proportion of his time learning how to sail – an activity which he loved. So much was his enjoyment that when he returned from service he decided to sell his clarinet to fund the acquisition of a catamaran. He built this himself and enjoyed many days sailing it in Burnham-on-Crouch. Sailing and ships would remain a lifelong interest for him and also played a part in his work life too. As a young man he worked as a shipping clerk with Kay and Sons dealing mainly with the Argentinean shipping company ELMA line. He enjoyed his work which involved making arrangements for unusual objects such as polo ponies and yachts with 30 foot masts to be shipped to and from Argentina. His career was not plain sailing however, the Falklands War in 1980 led the company to cease trading and Roger found himself without employment. This was at a time when jobs were few and far between and there followed some tough years for the family. Eventually Roger found further employment working in the container shipping of commodities but as this lacked the logistical challenge of his former job he never found it as interesting. As well as sailing and music Roger also had a love of food and in particular cheese -the stinkier the better. He had a very healthy appetite and was known for his ability to eat up leftovers and for his enjoyment of unusual food combinations. This trait would happily lead him to meet his future wife - Rosie on the Ski coach bound for Austria. Owing to an unfortunate mix up Rosie and her twin sister discovered they made themselves honey and marmite sandwiches. Overhearing this from his seat behind them Roger enquired hopefully 'Are you going to eat those?' And the rest as they say is history. Roger married Rosie in 1963. It would have been their Golden Wedding anniversary this year. For many years he and Rosie spent a large part of their lives doing up the house and transforming the garden at Bell Common into a wonderful family home for their two children Russell and Polly. Together with his family, Roger enjoyed the outdoors and never more so than on our family holidays to the Gower in Wales. He would spend hours exploring the rugged coastline and wading out into rock pools to catch the biggest prawns to eat for dinner. Sadly, in in the mid 90's Roger developed Parkinson's disease at a relatively early age. He coped with the diagnosis in a typically stoical and determined fashion, with little complaint and with a good deal of dignity. Roger and Rosie resolved to keep doing as many things as possible in spite of his Parkinsons. Together they continued to enjoy trips to garden shows, the opera and going on cruises together, including a trip to see the Northern Lights. Roger continued to enjoy getting out and about whizzing about on his trusty scooter in all kinds of weather. He also enjoyed the small things spending hours in the garden, cultivating plants from cuttings, and growing bonsai trees. He had a natural curiosity about how things worked and a love of carpentry, pottering about with tools and bits of wood making ingenious contraptions to use around the house. And if a task was important to him Roger was quite single-minded in achieving it. Even with the tremor and dyskinesias he developed with Parkinson's he would spend many happy hours wobbling backwards and forwards with various power tools and other sharp implements, much to his family's consternation. Indeed last week Russell and I saw evidence that he was still working on making such gadgets up to the time he went into hospital There were difficult times, and it was then that his love of music brought him comfort and solace. When his Parkinsons made him feel unwell or prevented him from moving, he would lie on his bed listen to music for hours until his symptoms subsided. While his body waned, his mental faculties never dulled. He was described as quick witted, and had an encyclopaedic knowledge. You would definitely want him on your Trivial Pursuit team and if a question on classical music or composers came up you were on to a winner. His quick wit was accompanied by a wicked sense of humour and a real sense of fun - lately he had been trying to revive a fruit cake, baked by Rosie some time ago, by soaking it in different liquors and eating it one slice at a time.. and apparently it tasted very good. And, still does! Roger was a kind and gentle man who looked for the best in people and was a loyal friend who inspired loyalty in others. This was clearly evidenced by the number of friends and neighbours who visited him and who wanted to help. He faced the challenges in his life with dignity, bravery and good humour and he never once complained about his “lot” in life but simply battled on each day and indeed as I said earlier he was a very courageous man. His passions remained with him throughout his life and he enjoyed them right up until the end. Most of all he was a devoted husband, a loving father, a proud grandfather to his four grandchildren and also a great friend. We will miss him so very much.