Peter William Wheatley

“There is no night without the dawn.”

Peter passed away peacefully at Leighton hospital on 3rd March aged 76 years.

Peter was born on 19th October 1941 to mum, Lily, and dad, William, here in Crewe.  He was brought up with his two sisters Janet and Pauline and spent much of his time playing in the local park, where he would often stay until dusk before heading home, or attempting to play one of the various musical instruments he had acquired – something, as we know, he would continue to develop throughout his life.  Peter went to junior school at Edleston Road and seniors at Bedford Street, and upon leaving school became an apprentice at Rolls Royce.  Over the years he would hone his trade and worked for many years on car body work in different garages.  He married his wonderful wife Mal and together they had three boys; Michael, Rob and Philip.  Peter left his work in the garages in his 40s due to ill health and he and Mal opened shop on Ruskin Road, and a greengrocers on Nantwich road, however Peter’s love of cars never died and he would spend much time (and borrow many peoples’ garages) restoring beautiful vintage cars, in particular a few of Mal’s favourite – the Austin Metropolitan, which he would show around the country.  A particular memory of Pauline’s also includes a car… she remembers going to the seaside with Peter and Mal in a Joweth Javelin car… the car looked good but broke down on the way back!  Peter did get it going eventually – but who knows, maybe that says something about his favouring the body work side of things!

Peter would later move to Alton Street where he remained for the rest of his days, surrounded by his many musical instruments; from the ukulele to Saxophone, the banjo and guitar.  There’s no denying Peter’s talent in music, and although it would appear this natural aptitude wasn’t passed down directly to his three sons, it does seem to have skipped a generation.  Peter has three grandchildren, Rob and Kate’s children, Beth, Dan, and Elliot – and Dan, in particular, seems to have inherited the gift!

On 3rd March, Peter joined his wife Mal, peacefully whilst in hospital.  Peter’s sister Pauline would particularly like to thank his neighbours for their actions in getting help for Peter that day, and to the staff at A&E for their care of Peter in those last moments.

His funeral will take place on Friday 16th March in the Crematorium Chapel in Crewe at 12.40pm.

For further information regarding Peter’s funeral please contact our funeral home on 01270 584447.