Gordon Andrew Franklin

I am so grateful to see you all here today! Celebrations like these were always of greatest importance to Gordon, and I know he will be grateful too. There are many viewing from a longer distance too: from Zimbabwe and South Africa, from other parts of the UK and Europe, from New York, from Calgary in Canada where many members of the Franklin family are, and from Japan. To every single one of you I want to say a special thank you.

In Britain nowadays funerals are far more diverse in their religious affiliation than they were when I was young. Gordon and I belong to an interfaith group called the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, which was founded in South Korea in 1960 by Rev and Mrs Moon. As some of you know, Gordon and I received a special blessing after our legal marriage in Southend in 2013. At this blessing, with others, we pledged ourselves to each other, not 'till death do us part', but for ever. For eternity. When I made my decision that Gordon was 'the one' (he hadn't asked me yet!) I knew in my heart that this person would sustain the course.

As Very Rev Haines said: there is another part of life after this one. We are here to 'send Gordon off' to his new life in the spirit, or soul, today. You'll have noticed that we requested lighter-coloured clothing. This is because this ceremony is not chiefly for mourning, but for gratitude for his life here on earth, and to say goodbye until we meet again. As Gordon's very loved schoolfriend Brian might put it: this is a new adventure!

As most of you know already, Gordon and I married when he was 78 and I was 63, after knowing each other for a couple of years. Some of you here know more about different times. A good friend in his Southend group of swimmers, Lee Stuckey, offered a short tribute.

Like most of us, Gordon didn't retain many early memories of his life. He was born 10 years after his brother John, his only sibling, in 1935 in Stepney, the East End of London. When they were young, their parents had lived round the corner from each other there. They married after Jack, their father, came back from the Western Front of WWI. They first lived around the grandparents, aunties, uncles and cousins. Gordon's father had 7 siblings, his mother had 5. It was a close community, and some of you here were there.

In London, during the Blitz of WWII, the house behind the Franklins' was destroyed by a bomb, and they moved further east in London, to Forest Gate, where Gordon went to primary school (and met Brian). They went to the Grammar School for Boys in East Ham and completed A levels. After this Gordon wrote the national Civil Service exams. This was at the time when the nation was investing in governmental departments to build up Britain after the devastation of World War II.

Gordon described his military training in the Air Force (1954–56) as key to his own personal development, although he didn't exactly enjoy it. The best bits were: being posted to the Middle East (Jordan), the great afternoons they had swimming, and finding, when he was posted back to Britain, that he was working with his best friend, Brian. Whenever I told him anything about my experience at boarding-school (which was good) he was always very surprised at the strictness there. He felt it sounded 'just like the RAF'.

He was demobbed just days after his 21st birthday, and his mum ('Auntie Grace' to many) gave him a 21st birthday party when he came home, which he always remembered. (Maybe you were there?)

I think his mum's birthday parties were his greatest joy and memory all his life. I don't think I ever came close! He loved to be in a celebratory event with others — although if you were observing him at the time, you might not have thought so! He was very cautious of showing his feelings in public, even his positive ones. He thought he was 'quite shy', and had lacked a lot of confidence in expressing himself in life generally. However, at home he was not unconfident of his own ideas and opinions, which, for his date of birth, were very progressive. So I think he could've been a bit confusing to others. Perhaps for him being 'a gentleman' was easier? Outwardly he seemed 'quite' to 'very serious', but if you had seen him watching a tight last-100-metres athletic race-finish you would've seen him bouncing up and down on the sofa, waving his arms in the air and yelling at the TV screen.

He first became interested in running at school because at 15 he liked the PT teacher more than 'the others'. He had started with cross-country, as most do. His actual daily occupation was with the Inland Revenue Service, as a tax officer, until his retirement in 1994. In the evenings he did his training. On the weekends he raced. He did not have a coach — in those days very few runners had one — and athletics clubs did not suit his needs. He completed 38,668.83 miles (Earth's circumference is 24,901 miles) by the time he had to stop in late 2022, nearly 88 years old, when he did himself an injury in the gym. Soon a pacemaker was fitted for his heart failure, which he had been diagnosed with in 2010, before the Vancouver marathon that year.

Athletics — this was Gordon's abiding dedication, his dream, his free-time occupation, and just about the only thing he watched TV for! He was a great record-keeper and he documented his athletics work relentlessly. The shelves of training-notebooks and diaries testify to this.

In his study you will see two metres of medals hanging across the bookcases — for 10 marathons (three in London, the others international), for half marathons, for 10k races, and also for standard triathlons. There are also cups and other awards on other shelves. He also took up archery for a while, and from his late 40s he went to Europe every January for 3 weeks of cross-country skiing (initially as a beginner).

The greatest sadness of his life was his mum's passing away when he was just 24 years old, after they moved to Southend on the coast. Gordon and his dad ('Uncle Jack') continued to live in the Southend house together. Gordon had to bring in the money to pay off the house and to support them. His dad spent most of his time in the garden, shopping and doing housework.

In his job as a tax officer he took a 3-year break in his 40s for a BA degree at Southampton University, majoring in Spanish and French. His capacity for different languages generally was enviable. He loved his studies but found this qualification did nothing to improve his civil service salary.

His extended family and neighbours were well aware of his races, because he was always asking for donations to support a charitable cause. He was well able to 'live for the sake of others'. During this time he was also Treasurer for the Alzheimer's Society. Latterly he helped me run and fund a development project in Dotito, a village of smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe, north of Harare. We help them work together to strengthen families in an almost impossible economic situation. This group is under the auspices of the local Family Federation there, but the organisation itself doesn't offer funding. We do. (If you offer a donation in his memory today it will go to the youth in Dotito.)

Many of you know the story of how Gordon and I met on a coach trip to the WWI battlefields of the Somme in France. We were both intrigued about the graves of ancestors — his uncle Richard, and my grandmother's four brothers, 'Alf, Bertie, Bob and Reg', as my mother always reminded me. We felt our ancestors brought us together. Many of you remember when we got married in Southend in 2013. Some of you are here now, and I want to express that we were both hugely impressed at the Franklin and Ranson 'cousinly' turnout.

One point we both agreed on, and often expressed to each other: 'This marriage was the best thing we ever did.' I had been looking for that 'special man' for a long time. He had not found that 'special woman'. This, to some extent, had driven his lifetime dedication to athletics. Yet, I have to admit to you, this 'best thing we ever did' was not obvious to us immediately! It took us about a year to think that we might really have found what we — and most other people — want from life: 'someone who will be with me and love me for ever'. This is why we went for this special blessing after our wedding.

Naturally we had no children of our own, although we felt it was an important experience to have. But Sarah had been my close friend for some years and she fell naturally into that daughter-role, as did Christine, Miscah and Madison become our granddaughters. Thank you to our other family for accepting them as family. Gordon was particularly thrilled to welcome Edna, our great-granddaughter, who is now 3 years old.

A while after he had the pacemaker fitted, his walking deteriorated. However much this must have pained him — and he dreamt about running and biking often — he did not make complaining a habit. From this time an international group of very dedicated carers came to our house, and into our lives, twice a day. They made a huge difference to our coping with a very changed lifestyle at home. At first their foreign accents made it quite daunting for him. He was absolutely not used to telling people what his needs were, or showing them how he wanted to be washed. But we were inspired by them, grateful for their excellent skills, and cheered up by their conversation. We loved having them, and I thank them from the bottom of our hearts for their service. Gordon was as well as he could be up till the last hour of his life with us. He had no struggle or pain in passing away on 28th February.

'We' were the best thing that happened to 'us'. I'm proud forever to be his wife. I'm so grateful to have you here with me to celebrate his awesomeness, and to have shared with you about his life.

It's a very sad time now, yes. But we have not had a sad time together, and we also don't think that our future prospects are sad. After your being here today in his honour, I'm sure he will think he had a great time. I want to thank everyone present, and all those online again, for contributing your support. God bless you all.