Kenneth Bratton (14 Oct 1925 - 20 Mar 2019)

In loving memory of my Dad Kenneth Bratton who sadly passed away on 20th March 2019. A very gentle gentleman with old fashion values. My Dad was the youngest of seven children and lost his father when he was about 7 years old. He spent lots of happy years during the school holidays staying with his elder sister and husband and their two boys. They were more like brothers than cousins. Their playground was the moors in Derbyshire were they would play and have imaginary adventures just being boys with no toys, but a world of nature and discovery out in the wild. Then at the age of around 17 he joined the merchant navy leaving his mum in Grimsby. He spent a few years sailing the oceans as a galley boy earning his way up from the worst jobs to being a cook’s helper often spending his hours peeling potatoes and washing up. When washing up he often accidentally threw out cutlery when discarding the dirty water. He travelled the world and visited lots of cities on his epic journey. Not to forget that he also sailed on ships carrying supplies during the 2nd world war. The ships were camouflaged as war ships which were dangerous vessels to be on as you can imagine. He enlisted in to the army and was a “sparky” putting the lines of communications in for use on location wherever they were stationed. This took him to places like Egypt and Austria. Whilst he was in Austria he met his true love Ernestina. They were married in September 1947 and they both settled in Grimsby. Mum and Dad lived with my Grandma and they had two daughters me and my sister Susan. They both worked very hard to save for their own house. Then one day we left my Grandma’s to live in our own house. Later on Dad worked as a Supervisor at Birds Eye and my Mum left Ticklers Jam factory to work at Findus. They both saved their money to buy a better home for us and in 1966 they bought a bungalow in Cleethorpes. There we spent many happy years buy sadly my sister passed away in 2000 and my Mum passed away I 2007. My Dad lost a daughter, a grandson and a wife yet he still managed to live independently and got to grips with cooking and cleaning and baking the most gorgeous fruit cakes, mince pies and sausage rolls. With family support he managed to keep his independence and even through his failing health he still maintained his independence right to the end. This tribute is a taster of a fraction of my Dad’s lifetime but I hope I have given you some idea of what this man, (my Dad) has achieved in his 93 years on earth. I am so proud of him and miss him so much.. thank you xxxx