Phil “Hippy” Austin

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

Peacefully surrounded by those he loved, Phil passed away on the 8th August 2021 aged 72 years.

The beloved husband of Sharron, much loved dad of Zoe, Jodie and the late Lee.  Also a cherished grandad, great grandad & dearest brother who will be so sadly missed by all his family & friends.

Phil’s funeral took place on Wednesday 18th August at 1p in the Crematorium Chapel, Crewe.

Kind donations in memory of Phil are going to St Luke’s Hospice.

For further information or to leave your condolences please call our Funeral Home on 01270 584447.

 

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Philip Austin, fondly known as Hippy or Phil, Sharon’s beloved husband and he was
totally devoted to her care. She described him as a wonderful man, and went on to
say “I married him at the age of sixteen and it wasn’t a day too soon!” Working as a
silver service waitress at the Royal Hotel in 1972, Sharon told her mum behind the
bar, see that fellah over there? I’m going to marry him. Her mum told her she was
being daft, but five weeks later, Phil proposed, and Sharon bagged herself a knight
in shining armour who came complete with a fantastic sense of humour and a heart
of gold.
He was hilarious and could light up the room with his daft antics and massive grin
when he had his teeth in! But he often had his false teeth half out or completely
removed as he pulled a proper ugly gurney face!
If acting the fool was an Olympic sport, he would have won gold! He was always
sensible with money and could peel an orange in his pocket, when he won at the
bookies, he would turn to the side and rummage into his wallet, but he was incredibly
kind, a generous man who would give you the world.
He was the rock on which his precious family was built, his world revolved around
them all. Phil was a doting dad to Zoe, Jodie and his late son Lee. He thought the
world of his son in law Gaz or to Phil he is known as Pies and Phil always drew a pie
on the cards he sent – with steam escaping from the lid! He was a cherished
grandad to Tasha, Leon, Lissy, Mia and Demi, and great grandad to Mason and
Evie.
He and his siblings were incredibly close, a much-loved brother to David, Chris, Tim,
Jane, Nigel and the late Ann, a dear brother-in-law, Uncle, Great Uncle and being
close has continued with each generation. Sharon’s dearest friend Pauline and her
daughter Angela were part of the family and thought the world of him. He was the
larger-than-life character who made friends wherever he went.
Phil was Crewe’s very own dad, granddad and friend, he had time for everyone,
would chat to anyone, young or old, in luck or down on their luck. He was much
loved by kids, the staff and regulars in the Raven, neighbours, and old work
colleagues who remained in contact for years.
The iconic comedian made his debut at home in Kidsgrove on 11th September 1948,
apparently all seven children were born at home, and they all lived at Auntie Vi’s
house.
Their mum Dorothy died when they were fairly young, but Auntie Vi stepped in to
help dad, William with their upbringing.
The kids all slept in the same bed with coats over them and he often told Leon that
he and his mates used to sledge down Clough Hall Bank and skate on the frozen
lake.
Phil was always very cheeky growing up, but immensley funny and loving. Once
when he was messing about with the washing machine, trying to be clever he put his
finger into the mangle, his arm was dragged in and he received a nasty burn.

He constantly followed David around and if Phil wasn’t home on time, his dad would
be roaming the streets shouting his name, but he always managed to nip in the
house before his dad.
Chris remembers how they were supposed to go to Sunday School but often they
skipped it and paid Jane a penny or tuppence to say they had been! And Phil may
have been able to afford a bribe, he earned a little as a paper boy although the
papers were actually bigger than him!
As a youngster, Phil and his family may not have had much but they had plenty of
fun filled holidays, travelling by train to stay at Browns Caravan Park in Towyn, with
trips around Wales.
He was a talented footballer and played for Alsager Town, not quite Stoke but he
was ever so proud. His lifelong passion started at the age of seven when his dad
bought him his first rod, incidentally, he treasured it all his life.
They often went fishing to the leg o mutton and Jane regularly tagged along. He and
Chris had maggot races before chucking them at Jane, inevitably she would run
home in tears so they would be in big trouble for terrorising her. He told Jodie, when
he was fishing on the canal, if the barges went past at speed, and disturbed his
fishing, he would catapult maggots onto the decks.
Phil continued to fish throughout his life, occasionally he would do a spot of night
fishing, but he preferred fishing during the day and regularly did extremely well in
matches. He travelled all over the country with his mate Gerda on the back of his
bike. He also went fishing with his friend George and would often take Leon and
sadly he had renewed his fishing licence just recently.
Throughout his working life, he worked at Twinlock or as many people know it, Ako
Europa. He then went to Rollermakers where he was made redundant, but they
asked him to return, and he also found time to do farm work, gardening and
maintenance for the Thomson family and subsequent generations.
Sharon remembers when she and Phil started courting, he used to go home to
Kidsgrove every day, get changed and catch the bus to Crewe to see her and later
walk all the way home. They married in 1974 and moved to an awful property in Talk
Pitts but as Sharon said, they were together, so it didn’t matter about the state of it.
They eventually moved to Fanshaw Walk in Crewe. They had their son Lee and
when Sharon was pregnant with Zoe, unbeknown to Phil, she literally swapped
houses with a friend. He returned from work as normal but as he tried to get in, he
was told he no longer lived there and had to go round the corner to Brookhouse
Drive! Jodie was born the following year 1978 and they have remained in the same
house ever since.
They all have such funny memories of his antics. When Sharon was at work, the
three of them would sneek into bed with dad and ask him to speak gibberish and
when he came out with a whole load of nonsense, they were convinced he knew a
special language.

And do you all remember this:
One fine day in the middle of the night,
Two dead men got up to fight,
Back to back, they faced each other,
Drew their swords and shot each other!
And the ditty in a his Stokie twang:
Cos kick a bow,
Again a woe,
An y’ead it til it bost,
I cost ne can they!
As kids, they used to go and meet him at Twinlock then they would all get the works
coach to Kidsgrove so they could visit grandad and Auntie Vi and with such a large
family the house was always full, chaotic and noisy, so grandad always turned his
hearing aid down.
Phil left the kids in capable hands; he always raided the glory hole for treats to snack
on as he left the house and went off to the pub with his mates but always returned in
time to catch the last bus back to Crewe with the kids.
Zoe and Jodie remember as Phil, Sharon and the three of them piled into Pauline’s
car, she would ask, which way do you want to go? Then they would end up at the
likes of Blackpool for the day.
As the kids got older, Phil developed a passion for holidays in Turkey. He loved the
people and the way of life and he was so tanned, people often mistook him for a
local.
One time when they were sat with a Turkish Family drinking Raki, the man was
playing something that resembled a banjo and singing traditional songs. He handed
it to Phil who delighted in strumming the strings whilst giving them a rendition of ‘Cos
Kick a Bow, again a woe!’ And the family thought it was a traditional English folk
song!
As grandchildren came along, he was devoted to them all. Leon remembers how he
used to snuggle in with grandad and listen to lots of tales about his childhood.
He retired at the age of sixty-five and he always made the most of his bus pass,
finding any excuse to travel to Stoke – they do nice pies there duck, or I get the bread
yer mum likes! And he always asked folk, what part of Stoke yer from Duck?
He went all the way to Wrexham and bragged he had bagged a bargain, Sugar Puffs
for twenty pence! Jodie asked, “how many boxes did you get then?” “One” he said!
When any kids entered the house, he used to tweet like a bird, he really sounded like
one and they always fell for his trick as they looked around the house for it! And he’d
pretend to chuck something in the air and catch it in a paper bag.

Zoe said you could say to him, don’t forget your memory foam pillow, and he couldn’t
resist saying: “what did you say?”
Anyone could say hello to him, and Zoe often walked past and shouted to him and
he would look round as if looking to see who they were talking to.
He would very often crack on he knew something; how do you know? You’d be
surprised what I know! But in reality, he was very nosey and he didn’t care who
knew it either! Often known to follow an ambulance or police car to find out where
they were going or if something was going on over the road, many would peek round
the curtains, not Phil, front door wide open and he wouldn’t move till he knew the
score!
Everything he did or said was to get a reaction.
For as long as the family can remember, he was always at the Raven. Jodie told me
he only stopped going to his second home during lockdown. Sharon corrected her –
“his first home you mean, but he always came back like a homing pigeon!”
His family were his world.

May he rest in Peace