Chris Thorneloe – 11th May 1929 to 11th February 2016

Chris was born and brought up in Leicester and Leicestershire.  His Prep school was evacuated to the countryside during the War. One memorable day he woke up to find that the Royal Train had stopped on the line at the bottom of the school grounds so the school had an impromptu Royal Visit.
The family evacuated from Leicester to Charnwood Forest where his mother reared rabbits for food and he lived in a caravan for part of the time.  He played rugby for Westleigh who were great rivals to Stoneygate at that time. He also played cricket and sailed National dinghies on the Trent.
He was educated at Rugby school.  Spending his National Service in the Royal Navy playing rugby and driving for the Military Police with very little time actually spent at sea.
He worked for the family hosiery firm “Thorneloe and Clarkson” in Leicester, spending a lot of time on the road selling their Beau Brummel range of clothes.
When a young man he enjoyed a sailing holiday on the Norfolk Broads and had many holidays in narrowboats on the canal networks in later years.
He fathered 3 children with his first wife. Charles, Mandy and Clare who provided him with grand children and some have also delivered greatgrandchildren. He married Wendy in 1968 and lived at Billesdon for a few years until the Family firm shut down. Several years of moving around the country followed including stops at Cropredy, Leicester and Abergavenny before settling at Wing in 1975 when he became manager of Corah’s factory in Oakham until he retired. Chris and Wendy had many Holidays in North Norfolk where they would catch shrimps. He enjoyed travelling the world on holidays and would always endeavour to learn a few words of the local language. They also enjoyed holidaying all over the UK and spent many happy hours planning the route and stopping points.
He quickly immersed himself in Wing village life, was an active member of the church, became a member of the PCC and Church warden, taking part in village theatrical productions.
In retirement Chris continued with his passion for gardening and developed his interest in painting, he took up swimming as part of his daily routine, continued supporting both village pubs and enjoyed travelling in the UK and abroad. Chris loved gardening and spent a lot of the winter planning what he would grow and where to plant it in the spring. A lot of pub conversation would involve gardening successes and failures and favourite methods of germinating seeds. Missed Wendy greatly when she died in 2013 but continued to make the most of life and communicated with friends and family every day.
He could not dig due to a fused back and formed a great friendship with Vic who helped him in the garden. Vic and Barbara showed Dad great kindness and enabled him to remain at home and live independently. As did so many others in the community.
The Family wish to thank the wonderful volunteers who gave so generously of their time to provide the refreshments at Chris’s wake. We were delighted to see so many old friend and relations and others who had known Chris over the years who came to celebrate his life.
Charles Thorneloe