Gerry Fenn

It was standing-room only at the chapel at Kingsdown Crematorium as pallbearers to the former Lydiard Tregoze parish councillor, including Gerry’s beloved eldest grandsons Joe, Sam, Luke and Jack, carried the piano decorated coffin in to Irving Berlin’s The Song Is Over But The Memory Lingers On in honour of the talented pianist’s life-long love of jazz music.

The former landlord, who ran the Beehive in Prospect Hill in Swindon for 17 years, died at the Great Western Hospital last month at the age of 80.

During the service Gerry’s daughter Steph praised her dad for teaching her and sister Abbie they could achieve anything if they put their minds to it.

“We were in awe of this great man we called Dad,” she said. “He would do anything for me and my sister.

“He taught us that we could get to anywhere we wanted and achieve our goals. He had integrity and he was a less talk more action type of person, he was patient but also impatient.”

Daughter Steph said the devoted granddad enjoyed watching his grandsons on the football field and cuddles with his two great-grandchildren, two-year-old Logan and one-year-old Lydia.

She also promised Gerry they would look after his wife and ‘soul-mate’ of 58 years, Pat, now he was gone.

“Mum and Dad were soul-mates and when he was in ill health he was concerned that there wouldn’t be someone around to look after Mum,” she said. “Don’t worry dad, we will take care of her.”

Steph ended with a touching farewell to her father, paying homage to his years as a friendly face behind the bar.

“So dad, it’s time to call last orders for the final time,” she said. “Thanks for being the most incredible father. We will always love you.”

Old friend Bob Blackman, who first met Gerry when he was in college, kept the congregation entertained as he recalled anecdotes of his 50-year friendship with the community stalwart.

He said: “Gerry was a man of great perception, in the 80s they introduced flexible drinking rules - he introduced them in the 1960s. I remember when we were playing late night poker and the police knocked on the door because they’d heard reports of late-night drinking. Without a warrant, Gerry declined to let them in. Then we carried on drinking.”

Gerry and wife Pat had lived in Swindon since the late 1960s where their daughters, Steph and Abbie, were born. After leaving the Beehive, Gerry did a number of odd jobs, including playing piano which he learned as a child around the town. He also managed Hook’s Bolingbroke Arms temporarily.

Gerry maintained a love of fast cars, driving his family around in a convertible Ford Galaxy, golf, a tipple and bespoke suits.

Closing the tributes, Gerry’s grandsons Joe and Sam and Luke said only now did they realise how much their grandfather had influenced them in their day-to-day lives.

“He wasn’t a conventional grandfather but it was only when I grew up that I truly began to understand him,” one said. “I get my love of music from him.”

Another added: “Your presence will be missed but the memories we shared will inspire us for a lifetime.”

A period of quiet reflection – where the congregation was invited to recall their own precious memories of Gerry – preceded by Hymn to Freedom by Gerry’s favourite jazz pianist Oscar Peterson.

Monty Python’s Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life’ which got the congregation singing and whistling along, concluded the service with family members queuing to lay roses and say a fond farewell to the much-loved pianist.

Family and friends gathered at the Redhouse Club, Purton to raise a toast to Gerry.

Donations to Prospect Hospice can be made via Hillier’s Funeral Directors in Swindon.