The life of Ronald Vincent (From Dorset Echo)
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The life of Ronald Vincent
10:47am Tuesday 15th November 2011 in Celebrating
Ronald Vincent
FRIENDS and family have paid tribute to a ‘much loved true family man’.
Ronald ‘Ron’ Vincent, of Sunnyside Road, Wyke Regis, Weymouth, recently passed away at the age of 88.
His family said they would remember him as young at heart, with a great sense of humour and well loved by all who knew him.
Mr Vincent was born in Dewlish in 1922, the youngest of ten, into a farming family.
He taught himself to drive and started to deliver for the local bakery. This passion for driving was to stay with him all his life.
At 18 he joined the army and served during the Second World War in France, Holland, Belgium and the Faroe Islands as a dispatch driver.
He featured in the Echo in January 1945 when his company had allowed one person to go home on leave and Mr Vincent was the lucky name chosen.
He brought his mother home a tray and two vases made out of shell cases from Holland.
He then returned to drive during the rest of the war.
Ron met his future wife Iris at the Portland Fair. Mr Vincent married his sweetheart in 1947.
Iris was the oldest of 10 and he became a big part of family life and her family said they have many fond memories of him.
The couple had a son and a daughter, Terry and Tina, as well as grandchildren Simon, Mark, Jamie and Adrian and also great grandchildren.
Mr Vincent enjoyed fishing in Castletown and shared many laughs with family and friends in Archies.
He worked as a driver after the war, firstly for South Western Stone Firms, before driving for his brother Fred Vincent at Warmwell sand and gravel pits.
He later drove for Portland Prison and he was often joined on the road by Iris.
Mr Vincent retired in 1987 but his family said that was when he really started work doing odd jobs including gardening for elderly ladies, some younger than himself.
Mr Vincent was fit and active his whole life. He drove until he was 87 and only a couple of weeks before his death he caught the bus to Portland and walked from Tophill to Underhill.
In fact he only spent one day in hospital in his life, just before he died.
His daughter Tina Taylor said: “He was young at heart with a great sense of humour. There were so many people at his funeral. He was a much-loved true family man.”
His family collected a donation in his memory of £447.12 for Help for Heroes.
