RIP Chris

A few pics from Chris's send-off yesterday.....

Convoy to the crem

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At the crem


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Convoy to the Leopard

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At the Leopard


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No Cougar meet would be the same without a few parts being swapped

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Farewell old friend

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Thanks Manos :)

Maybe we should have a "Send Off" thread for all the pics as there are more to follow I'm sure.
 
Great pics as usual Manos - capture the convoy perfectly. We were around 4 cars from the end of the cortege and when we were queuing uphill it was a sight to behold. Shame I couldn't have grabbed a decent photo of it :(
 
I hadn't realised how bright it was heading off to the crematorium. Nice set of photo's Manos, and a stark reminder of events. I said it in the other thread, from the tail end of the cortege it was indeed a sight for sore eyes to see all those cougars in line.
 
I’m not ashamed to say that when I sat and read most of the previous posts at lunchtime today I had tears rolling down my face and the same has happened again this evening. So much eloquent prose posted by so many people expressing such heart-felt sentiments about two wonderful people.
Chris and Tim were the first members of UKC I had the pleasure of coming face to face with and although our paths haven’t crossed that many times since then it didn’t seem to matter as any meeting with them was always a pleasure. As has been said by so many people they seemed to be happiest when helping others; nothing was too much trouble.
It was fitting then that so many of their friends were able give something back by being in attendance yesterday. Just being there to support Tim and give Chris the send-off he so rightly deserved speaks volumes for the esteem in which they are held by the members of this amazing ‘family’. People come and go; cars come and go but there is an underlying feeling of togetherness that pervades the whole forum and never more so than at a time like this.
Yesterday was wonderful and tragic all at the same time. Wonderful in the way people from all walks of life and far flung parts of the country came together to support a common cause but tragic that the cause was the untimely passing of a dear friend who had so much more to live for.
Karen and I felt privileged to be part of the day; from the ‘dressing’ of the Cats with their ribbons and photos, throughout the dignified procession to the crematorium, experiencing the incredibly moving service and afterwards at the wake we ran a rollercoaster ride of emotions. Huge sadness tempered by a sense of pride that we had done right by Chris.
Tim, you have our utmost respect for the stoicism you have displayed during this awful time and, as others have implored, please try to find comfort in the knowledge that this place wouldn’t be the same without you and I hope you can find it within yourself to remain part of it.

Thanks to Matt for the ribbons which I re-tied this morning and will remain in situ for the foreseeable future, to RichB for the photo to display in our windscreen; a lovely gesture and a wonderful memento of Chris, to Kully for organising the floral tribute and cards, to Manos for the photos that have appeared whist I’ve been trying to type this and to everyone else who contributed to a day that will live long in the memory.

RIP Chris. Gone but never Forgotten.
 
Not sure if there is anything i can add to whats been so well put by everybody and i am not the best with words (sorry). But massive respect to Tim for being so composed, organising such a fitting send off and being such a genuinely nice guy.

i was proud to be allowed to take part in such a moving occasion and the sight of the snaking line of cougars as far as the eye could see will remain with me for a very long time.

It was great to be able to put a lot more faces to names and to meet with friends, if only the circumstances of the meeting could have been better.


Drove home with Chris' picture in the window - decided to take the car down the "A" roads most of the way home to really drive rather than just cruise down the motorways dunno why but it just felt like the right thing to do.

Think the day showed just how respected and popular Chris was and like other the ribbons are staying on my cat for a while.
 
You saying that Geoff has brought back a memory of mine, which was a bikers funeral (very good friend and next door neighbour at the time) which was closing off my town's high st while the procession went through, there were no idiots that day, as they had bikes at every intersection, the estimated count was over 350 bikes, and you know, Chris's was up there with that, i still cant get over how awesome it is for a bunch of friends to come together and show thier utmost respect for someone who was taken so very early in life

Manos, as ever, brilliant, just glad i could help with those, so all of you that thought i was playing the idiot, i wasnt lol i was giving Manos the advantage with his camera ;-)
 
Some nice photographs there Manos, I like the 8th one down, maybe if we have a club calender next year we could have a few of them around the edges of a nice shot of Chris's car as the front page.
 
Top pics as ever Manos, good idea Rich about the calendar

I will be keeping the ribbons on my cat until they disappear naturally, Chris` picture will accompany me to all of this years shows, meets etc
 
Great photos Manos and great posts, even though i couldn't attend it gave a good insight into how the day unfolded and you all did Chris and Tim proud on such a very sad day.

Well done all.

Rich
 
So much has been written about Chris that there is not an awful lot more I can say.

It was a day of such emotions, great sadness and great shock at the suddenness of Chris's departing and huge sympathy for Tim who behaved the whole afternoon as a complete gentleman which is what I would have expected of him. How he managed to hold himself together so well is beyond me. It was so typical of the man that he came round and spoke to many of us personally, we really appreciated that Tim.

On the brighter side Chris would have been so proud to see so many of his friends and cats turn up, I don't think he would have realised how much he mattered to everyone. Nothing was ever too much trouble and he helped everyone he could, there are not a lot of people like that.

I also had the satisfaction of finally meeting other members who I know through the forum but had never met; that was a bonus I had not thought about. It was a pleasure to be able to put faces to names, some of you I have spoken to for years and years but never met face to face.

Thank you all for the massive turnout, it would have helped Tim enormously to see all the support. It is certainly a day I will never forget.

RIP Chris, you are so greatly missed by so many.
 
A number of people who attended the funeral service told me that they appreciated the eulogy. I thought those who were not able to attend might like to read it too, so here it is.

Christopher Henry Adams was born on the 21[SUP]st[/SUP] of January 1966 in Skegness. He was the first of Vic and Gill’s two children, being joined by his sister, Dawn, a couple of years later.

They lived in the village of Friskney, in a cluster of houses many of which were occupied by various members of the extended family, most of whom like Vic, worked on the land picking and packing the vegetables for which Lincolnshire is so famous. Theirs was a close and supportive family with both Grandmas playing an active part in Chris and Dawn’s early years and with Chris especially spending a lot of time with Grandma Adams who lived in one of those neighbouring houses.

Family came first and at weekends they would visit those relatives who were slightly further afield, take day trips, and maybe have a picnic. If there was money to spare it was a treat to go to The Swan where, in time honoured fashion, the children would remain outside with a packet of crisps and a bottle of pop.

Chris and Dawn got along well, bar the occasional sibling spat, and together they would explore the great outdoors that was their backyard. Collecting shells from the shore of the nearby Washwas a favourite pastime, but since the area was also a bombing range many of those shells were in fact discarded practice rounds from American A10, “Warthog”, anti-tank aircraft. Thankfully, no mishap ever ensued and those early exploits sparked in Chris a lifelong interest in military aircraft and also provided a memorable nickname, about which more later.

Dawn has fond memories of childhood holidays when the family, plus both Grandmas and luggage, would all pile into Vic’s car in a manner which would certainly be deemed an unsafe load today! These were happy times although some holidays were more memorable than others and not always for the right reasons. One such was when Chris – in his early teens– suddenly couldn’t move his legs properly. Of course, his parents thought that he was just messing about but it transpired that he had a rare muscle wasting disorder which saw him hospitalised for many weeks before he made a slow, but thankfully full, recovery.

Back home, Chris didn’t think much of school. He always knew that he would follow his father into farm work and, as a boy who enjoyed being outdoors, he was perfectly happy with a plan which didn’t require him to put his mind to any academic qualifications.

Meshing his love of the land to a burgeoning interest in motor transport, he took great pleasure from occasional opportunities to drive a tractor – especially one with a covered cab – and better still a cab and heating!

The seasonal nature of his work meant that Chris often had periods of spare time and he began to accompany a neighbour whose job it was to deliver produce to the London markets. Chris was always happy to help out loading and unloading and he loved the lorry journeys – the freedom of the road – so much so that he began to harbour ideas that he too might one day be a truck driver but it wasn’t quite to turn out like that.

Life in Friskney was pretty quiet for the young adult Chris. He had a few friends locally with whom he would go out on cycle rides but more often than not he would cycle off alone with his fishing rods to spend time on the banks of The Haven around Wainfleet; or into Skegness if he felt like visiting the town.

It was on one such trip to Skegness on a lovely summer’s day in July 1990 that, quite by chance, he met Tim who had also travelled there alone from his home in Leamington. They fell into conversation and were immediately attracted to one another. Both knew at the end of that first day that they wanted to spend their time together always. And indeed they did, for this was the start of a partnership that was to last for over 21 years.

They began by meeting up most weekends but within a matter of months Chris had made the momentous decision to leave home and move in with Tim. Joyously for both, Vic, Gill and Dawn could not have been more supportive and that support extended to Dawn’s husband, another Chris, when he joined the family. There followed many visits between the six of them to their various homes in Friskney, Leamington and Nottingham where Dawn and Chris had settled.

In 1992 Chris and Tim moved from Tim’s flat to a home chosen together, at Shrubland Street, and began to make it their own. There they continued to welcome Chris’ family to stay and Tim has especially fond memories of Christmas 1995 when all six of them had a grand time together – all the more poignant as Gill sadly passed away shortly afterwards.

More happily, Chris was delighted to become an Uncle when Dawn and Chris had their first child, Jordaine, a few months later.

Life in Leamington was, of course, very different to life in Friskney and there were times when Chris struggled to find work. But things started to look up when he landed a job as a delivery driver at Marshalls, a cleaning supply company in Warwick.

Chris threw himself into the work and was well liked not only by the other members of staff but also by the customers who really appreciated his unfailing willingness to help. Marshall’s became independent of its parent company in 2003 and Chris took on more responsibilities within the new, smaller, business. This was a great time for him as he, Mike the boss, Suzanne the administrator, and Tim - who had taken early retirement from his own job and who was available to help out part-time- made a dedicated team that was like a happy family.

That small family grew with the arrival of Karen a few years later. Through working together she and Chris formed a lasting friendship which outlived the later closure of the Warwick operation when Marshalls was bought out and Mike and Suzanne retired.

Marshalls had been so good for Chris – he was a shy man but working there brought him out of himself as he gained confidence in his dealings with customers and his newly found computer skills which were all a part of his additional responsibilities involving stock keeping and invoicing.

Sadly, Chris couldn’t endure the changes that came about with new management and a move to Coventry and he left after a few months.

Having more time on his hands allowed Chris to indulge his passion for his lovely car – he and Tim had bought a Ford Cougar V6 in 2002 and a few years later discovered ukcougar.com, the very enthusiastic internet based owner’s club.

They became regulars at club events and both made very many friends there. All members need a nickname, and recalling his youth in Friskney, Chris signed in as “Warthog”.

The club was soon the centre of their social lives as they spent time going to shows with the car looking its best, and later taking along a gazebo and camping stove to provide a gathering point and a ready supply of bacon or sausage baps.

In 2010 Chris become ukcougar club events organiser- a position of which he was justifiably proud. Club members have been immensely supportive of Tim over the last few weeks and there are hundreds of messages of appreciation for Chris on the website – I would like to share with you just a few of those messages which are indicative of the affection in which Chris was held –
“Chris took the job of events organiser to another level, always there, always helpful, always a friend”
“his good nature, ever smiling face and willingness to help anybody made all feel welcome”
“0ne of the nicest guys you could ever meet and that’s not lip service, he really was”
“A true character ...shows simply won’t be the same without him.”
“He was such an easy going guy and always had time to chat to me and make me feel welcome in the club.
“I only met Chris 3 times but it struck me straight away how friendly he was
“Lots of fond memories of Chris, but the one special memory is the parade lap at Snetterton, Chris was absolutely bubbling with excitement when we came off the track, his enthusiasm and excitement was quite infectious.”
​

Chris was so proud of his car and it is heartening to know that he spent his last days, including Christmas Day, doing what he liked best – working with Tim on the car making numerous small improvements. That last week together, working on the car, has provided Tim with one final set of beautiful memories to join all the other beautiful memories he has of his life with Chris over the past 21and a half years; memories which, along with his love for Chris, will never fade.
And Tim would like to thank everyone from ukcougar.com for their support andfor the wonderful convoy which followed Chris here today, including Chris's own car driven by Rich.
 
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