Thomas Bebbington “Tommy”

“Sad are the hearts that love you. Silent the tears that fall”

Tommy passed away peacefully at St Luke’s Hospice, Winsford on 16th December 2021 aged 80 years.

The beloved Husband of Janet. Devoted Dad of Justine & Melanie. Cherished Grandad of Louise & Great Grandad of Maisie. Dear Brother of Grace & Brother in Law to Melvyn. He will be sadly missed by all his family & friends.

His funeral took place on Thursday 30th December at Crewe Crematorium Chapel at 10.45am.

Family flowers only. Kind donations in memory of Tommy are going to St Luke’s Hospice.

For further information and to offer your condolences, please telephone our Funeral Home on 01270 584447

*****************************************************************************************************************************

Tommy and his beloved wife Janet, so similar to the iconic, comedic couples in
Coronation Street, they often engaged in regular spats, and could wind each other
up. Tommy knew exactly what buttons to press to wind Janet up. They had many a
row over the years and he would always quip, “she knows what side her bread is
buttered! With lots of dry humour and wit thrown in the ring it seems he also knew
exactly what side his bread was buttered as well! They would bicker and take the
micky but they totally adored each other, loved each other to bits and married for
fifty-five years thy were total opposites in many ways but two halves to a perfect
whole, whatever recipe they used, it certainly made a long and happy marriage!
It seems Tommy’s holidays in Benidorm with the lads didn’t do them any harm! I
should think it was a case of what goes on in Benidorm stays in Benidorm! And he
always enjoyed going to the Motor Show with his mates, or in truth, he got a few
brochures then went out on the razzle!
They had two fantastic daughters, Justine and Melanie, and a beautiful caring
granddaughter Louise. Tommy and Louise were extremely close, she was the apple
of her grandad’s eye but also devoted to his care throughout his battle with cancer
and his stroke, and with all due credit to her tender age, she wasn’t phased by
anything, even his personal care and she could certainly crack the whip or deal with
health professionals. She gave her grandparents the gift of a delightful great
granddaughter Maisie, born on Christmas day 2020, and that little treasure made the
last year of Tommy’s year wonderful.
Life dealt Tommy some cruel cards at times, he had a bad road accident in his early
fifties which cut short the job he loved and because of that, there were some hard
times, and he had some low points. He was diagnosed with cancer and after one
week and one day of treatment he suffered a major stroke, affecting his right side but
he still retained his sick sense of humour until the day he died. When he was at
home, he hated being up stairs in bed, missing out on all the chatter and commotion
and it was the perfect solution for him to be centre stage in a bed downstairs with all
the family around.
Despite any struggles, he only ever cared about his family and did his absolute best
for them. Woe betide anyone who ever upset the girls! Upset them and you upset
Tommy! He was determined to walk Melanie’s down the aisle last year, the proud
dad became a father-in-law to Edd, he always remained close to Louise’s dad
Michael, he regarded Justine’s partner Phil as his son in law, and Louise’s partner
Liam as a grandson in law.
He was much loved by his sister Grace and husband Wilf and by Janet’s brother
Melvyn and his wife Chantel and was a dear uncle to Karen, Becca and Sam. He
was a good friend to David who he met in Leighton Hospital and supported through
his own illness, Alex and Helen who he met up with in Benidorm every year when he
went with his mates but even when he went on his own in later life, he still met up
with Alex and Helen, they live in Scotland but sadly can’t be with us today. Beryl and
Trevor who he and Janet met in Barmouth and remained close, Bob and Tracey who

they met in Portugal, and he was extremely fond of Melanie’s friend Mandy who
used to sit with him whilst Janet went shopping, they had a fantastic banter.
There were many special people in Tommy’s life and limited time at the funeral to
mention everyone by name.
Remembering Tommy
Born and bred in Crewe, Tommy was welcomed into the world by his parents
Thomas and Sally. He attended Brierly Street School and served his apprenticeship
as a painter and decorator in his first job at Yoxhalls.
He qualified but went to Rolls Royce as a machine operator until he decided to set
up in business in his early thirties as a painter and decorator and Janet remembers
he had a blue minivan with a magnetic sign on the side with his name on.
He met Janet at the Jazz Club in the Royal Hotel when he was rattling his keys on
the dance floor trying to attract some female interest! He offered Janet a lift home
and the rest is history as they say! She remembers they went to Chester by train
every weekend. They married in 1966 at Wedgewood Methodist Church in Crewe
and honeymooned in Conway.
After living with Janet’s grandma for twelve months, they moved to their forever
home in Haslington. Justine was born in 1971 and Melanie arrived in 1975. He
often took Melanie to work with him – until she spilt the paint!
They enjoyed many fantastic family holidays in Brynteg, and Barmouth in North
Wales and abroad in Salou and their fun filled trips to Portugal especially at New
Year when the tradition was for all the family to wear blue underwear on New Years
Eve.
He loved baking and apparently made the most amazing melt in the mouth mince
pies, sponge cakes and apple pies and even gave them as presents to the staff at
B&Q, Focus, Aldi and Asda who became dear friends.
He was concert secretary at the Cosey Club in Haslington for twenty years and
extremely popular with everyone.
Tommy was generally happy go lucky, caring, kind, fun loving, generous, he was
hardworking and creative and had the patience of a saint.
He loved his dog Ross and thought Justine’s dog Keeley was more his than hers,
they also had Ruby, Demelza, Enzo and the latest addition Hatty a gorgeous fluffy
cockerpoo which Janet got for company and when Tommy saw her, he apparently
questioned whether she was a dog or a cat.
He loved helping Justine with her horses Barbie and Gellet, he liked ducks and
chickens and he helped Justine, Melanie and Louise with DIY, not necessarily good
at it but he helped a lot and he painted every room in the house when Janet
frequently fancied a change. He always had a duster in his pocket too!

He had a passion for TVs – the bigger the better and Lousie used to take ice cream
and popcorn up to him when he was watching the TV in bed.
He was very much like Victor Meldrew at times. He moaned, gritted his teeth and
was always right, even if he wasn’t!
Melvyn paid tribute:
The first time I was aware that my sister had a date with a new boyfriend called
Tommy was when I was around fourteen or fifteen years old. It was a more of a
moan really and a somewhat negative reaction bearing in mind it was a first date!
She was at a function and saw a bloke she quite fancied, so her heart raced when at
the end of the night came over, rattled his keys and asked if he could give her a lift
home.
Better than the last bus to our village followed by a dark walk, so the answer had to
be yes. He led her out to his very tiny Lambretta and offered her the pillion seat. No
helmets in those days!) Janet wore her hair in a beehive style with lots of hairspray
and it needed a lot of styling so even if there were helmets, she probably couldn’t
have got it on!
This was in the days of mods and rockers but Tommy didn’t wear a parka or display
loads of rear view mirrors, he was just an ordinary bloke on a scooter.
One had to think not the best of starts, but 60 years later he was obviously the one,
even if my first thought was that this surely cannot last!
Our parents interrogated him and were reasonably happy that he had a job at the
very prestigious Rolls Royce factory in Crewe and a talent he kept hidden for a while
was that he was a time served painter and decorator.
A very hard worker, he was determined to give Janet a home of her own, working all
hours for a few years to save up for a deposit. He worked at Rolls Royce by day and
did painting and decorating in the evenings and on occasions throughout the night
like when he totally repainted the Peacock pub every night for a week so that it could
remain open for business throughout the day without any mess visible.
He actually re decorated my parents living room in one night whilst dad was at work.
It was meant to be a total surprise for my dad, but he was so tired when he got home
off shift that he failed to notice Tommy’s handy work.
Before the mortgage, ditching the Lambretta for a car became a priority. A Hillman
Imp with the engine at the back, boot in the front, and two heavy breeze blocks over
the front wheels to keep them in touch with the road on bends.
But it was a car so Janet's hairstyle was safe! A few years after they were married, I
went off to Uni, so we lost being in close touch for a number of years but Tommy had

taught me that hard work would bring its rewards and I was determined to follow his
example.
Sadly missed by us all.

May he rest in peace