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Peter Jumbo Sears
Jumbo, as Peter was more generally known, was a big man in every respect who took big bites out of life and ignored the obstacles that he encountered, particularly those to do with his health. His ability to maintain a poker-face frequently hid his deep feelings and compassion - especially for young people who enjoyed and valued his company and advice as much as he enjoyed sharing it with them.
He led a very varied life, from his early days deep in the Essex countryside, later as an Olympic standard swimmer, then as a National Serviceman in the army, through some exciting times as a young man in the East End, followed by a career as an excellent salesman which saw a large portion of the population finding they had acquired new bathrooms, bedrooms, kitchens and insurance policies. He was an enthusiastic and, generally, successful gambler, thoroughly enjoying the lifestyle and people he encountered. All of you here will have shared in some part of his life and will know that there are so many stories and exploits which perhaps it is not appropriate to recount here but will make us all laugh when we think of them.
Jumbo convinced himself that he was an inflexible and intolerant person and that a telephone box would be large enough for his wake - we can see today that just for once he was mistaken.