For those here who don’t know me, I am David, Roger’s younger brother. On
behalf of the family I thank everyone for coming here today to this short service
where we meet to remember Roger and his life. I also thank all who have
communicated with the family over the past weeks.

I’m at the stage of life where I find friends and colleagues passing away and more
regularly attending funerals and memorial services. It always strikes me just how
much we learn for the first time about people after they have passed away,
conversations that were not held, and discovering aspects of lives of which one was
not fully aware. It has been the same for Roger and I also thank everyone who has
contributed in writing tributes.

2020 has of course been a difficult year. There have been many funerals such as
we are having here today with restricted numbers of people able to attend. And it
particularly appropriate that we meet here today on Monday 2nd November. In
the church it is All Souls Day. Also known as the Commemoration of All the Faithful
Departed, it is an international day of prayer and remembrance for the souls of all
those who have died. And yes, as you will have noticed, today would also have
been Roger’s 77th birthday.

It is hard to lose an elder brother. One’s own generation – a sibling! But even
harder perhaps to lose your twin brother as there are so many memories of things
you have done together and celebrations shared from birth. At least we are able to
wish Many Happy Returns of the Day to Eddie, Roger’s twin over there in Canada
and to send our sympathy.

Eddie and my sister Kathy both emigrated to Canada many years ago and in the
current circumstances cannot be with us here in person but Roger was a much
loved part of the family on both sides of the Atlantic. Recollections of a lifetime
flood in at these times.

And so we go back 77 years to war time Birmingham. Eddie tells me he came with
the 8am morning news. In those days Roger was not expected at all but duly
followed 30 minutes later, and was always the heavier of the twins from birth.
Roger was christened Ernest Charles Williams – Ernest after his uncle and Charles
after his maternal grandfather. I followed on a couple of years later and our
childhood and schooling was largely in the New Forest area on the South Coast.
We lived very close to the sea which may well have had a lifelong influence on our
later choice of careers.

At some later point, which I cannot define precisely, my brother Ernest chose to
call himself Roger. I’m not sure where the name came from. If he thought he
suffered an early misfortune in choice of name at the registration of his birth, we
cannot totally gloss over the fact that subsequent life did not always go smoothly
for him, or indeed quite the way he might have wished. Roger told me in June that
he had recently discovered papers that recounted he was rather accident prone as
a child, regularly drawing blood or breaking his national Health glasses and often
much else.

From Eddies own recollections the twins were up for serious mischief,
each no doubt leading the other into adventure, or more often it seems,
misadventure. Fights as I recall were frequent in the William household.
Roger clearly found schooling and indeed his whole childhood somewhat
challenging and he left school at the age of 16 to start work in the retail sector.
Something that would have a significant effect on the rest of his life was a
motorcycle accident as a teenager causing him fractures in his lower legs. With
pinning of his bones around the ankles he was able to walk again but strenuous
activity and exercise was thereafter curtailed. As a young man he took a great
interest in the Boy Scouts and immersed himself in improvement work to Brownsea
Island in Poole Harbour after its acquisition by the National Trust and its return to
public access. He spent many a weekend there clearing years of accumulated
undergrowth.

In due course despite his leg injuries and poor eyesight he managed to go to sea
with the Naafi, the organisation that provided shop facilities on board Royal Naval
Ships. He visited Antarctica, South Georgia and the Falkland Islands on HMS
Protector, watching Francis Chichester rounding Cape Horn, the Middle East on
HMS Abdiel, also serving on several other ships. A love for the sea continued after
he left Naafi, and he took a keen interest in sailing – in due course qualifying as a
Yacht skipper and sailing instructor.

His employment led to him living in various places around the country and mainly
seemed to revolve around procurement, planning or accounts. We did not see a lot
of him for many years – I can remember visiting his homes in Basingstoke, Poole
and Middlewich at different stages of his life. After his marriage to Christine in
1987 at Speen Church he settled in Reading in a new house on the Thames.
In the early 1990’s my wife and I bought a narrowboat and Roger and I spent a lot
of time together exploring the English canal system. It was an experience and
activity he clearly enjoyed and canals remained a fascination for him – particularly
the Kennet and Avon.

Roger was a complex person, he was “one of a kind”, somewhat eccentric, very
knowledgeable in a rather off-beat way, and with a prodigious historical memory
for detail, always with an inquiring mind. He liked using power tools and indeed
anything mechanical. When he visited my home in Kent he would spend his time
cutting hedges, trees and grass.

He was a people person, indeed a pub person, outgoing and talkative, and had so
much to share and give to others. He related particularly well to all the young
people in his life. He was always generous with his time and efforts, and always
ready for the next adventure.

He was naturally curious and seemed to have a prodigious knowledge about the
strangest things going on. He often immersed himself in esoteric aspects of local
culture and history and engaged in many a lengthy email and facebook comment
on something that caught his interest. The computer served him well, enabling him
to research into matters.

He lived very independently in Reading while maintaining some very long term
friendships and he was always a willing helper. He could lead a team well - he loved
to be given a project. The family are so grateful for the good friends locally who
have been in touch since his death.

While we are sad at our loss, the family is appreciative of the gatherings we were
able to share with Roger - those were all such special times.

Thank you, Roger, for your enthusiasm, your willingness to cheerfully participate in
any event on offer. Your sister Kathy fondly remembers revisiting the Dockyards at
Portsmouth with you last year, providing a stand out time in her memory. She
thanks you for crossing the Atlantic so often over the years to share in the lives of
your brother and sister over there and their families.

Without having children himself, Roger clearly showed huge affection for his four
nieces. I would particularly thank Pippa and Ginny for handling much of the work
that has arisen following his passing.

Roger, it was a meaningful life over all too soon. You have left a large number of
family and friends of all ages who will remember you with great affection and will
miss you so much. Rest in peace.