Peter Brian ‘Pete’

“Not just today, but a lifetime through, we will always treasure memories of you”

Christmas any minute now and here we are saying goodbye! Pete hated Christmas!
He loved his Christmas dinner, all the trimmings, a few Jack Daniels and Wallace and
Gromit but detested all the decorations and commercialized malarky and he would find
it highly amusing, can you hear him? Ho Ho Ho, spoilt it for you now!
Pete was Hayley’s world, her hero who got divorced, had sole custody and gave her an
abundance of love as he brought her up single handed and never a day went by without
them speaking to each other. A fantastic grandad to Xavier and Ran Ran to Jenson,
‘his boys’ as he lovingly called them.
He was ‘Daddy Pete to Max, Rich and the boys, a dear brother to Margaret, Reg,
Christine and the late Susan who also sadly died this year, brother-in-law and a good
mate to many!
This gentle giant, 6’5 and twenty stone, Pete was a legend in his own time, a cheeky
face who loved to make everyone laugh.
He lost his calling in life, he should have been a comedian, he had mischief written
through him like a stick of rock. He couldn’t hide his humour even if he tried to be
angry, because his eyes gave him away, they were always laughing and had a real
twinkle in them.

Remembering Pete

Pete arrived on 17th March 1956 to Gladys and Reg Brian.
Pete always reminisced about his time at Longton High. He and his mates got
detention every day. Initially the lads were taken to the first floor but as soon as the
teacher shut the door, they escaped through the window. They then used to take the
devils to the second floor, it may have been higher up but same again! Door shut and
they escaped through the window. They even managed to stop the lift in between floors
with the teacher stuck inside and Pete reckoned he left school owing fifty-seven
detentions he couldn’t quite get over how the teachers never learnt!
After leaving school he achieved his city and guilds and became a mechanic at Longton
Garage. He was a grafter, worked all hours of day and night and if Pete couldn’t fix it –
quite frankly, it couldn’t be fixed! He was a perfectionist, stripped every part down and
placed it carefully in order then methodically put it all back together like the gear box
from Xavier’s car.

He subsequently worked at Platts, Ray and Proctor and Swifts then after marrying Jill,
Pete set up his recovery business from home. After they divorced, he worked for
Midland Recovery and Kibblestone Garage at Oulton and of course, it was fantastic to
see him brought here today on a recovery truck.
He met his long term partner Ruth in 1993 who he adored. The two of them began
working together to run pubs.
He held twenty-six licences over the years, sometimes running two pubs at a time and
at the Mason Arms he tried his hand at cooking. After watching Gary at the Victory Inn,
Pete became a self-taught chef and after moving to their own pub ‘The Old Tramway’ in
a beautiful setting just five minutes’ walk into the Stratford, the local B&B
recommended the pub to all their guests for a slap-up meal, good ale and a damn good
night! Many unsuspecting people have almost chocked on their drinks when Pete made
them laugh
Working in the trade, Pete got into live bands and he also learnt to play golf – still had to
be downright awkward, he was right-handed but played with left-handed clubs twice a
week!
He loved cooking at home and did monstrous chicken kievs! A cracking cook, he made
everything from scratch with fresh ingredients like tasty curries, lasagna and bolognaise.
I gather he was full of annoying sayings, Tassissimo instead of Tassimo Machines,
Optic Fibre instead of Fibre Optic, Tunami not Tsunami and he had Hayley believing
Steel Toecaps were called Toecapsteels until well into her teens!

He sadly passed away on 25th November 2020 at the Royal Stoke University Hospital aged 64 years.

His funeral will take place on Monday 21st December 2020 at Carmountside Crematorium.