Claude’s Eulogy Wednesday 08th
June 2022
Delivered on behalf of the family by
Subash Tavares
§ Early life
§ Young Adventurers
§ Working life – Kenya
§ Family Life – Matty and Pam
§ Working life – UK (Martin
Walters, Invicta Motors, Grand Garage)
§ Challenges faced
§ Social life
§ Character
Early life
Dad/Claude was born in Nairobi, Kenya on 2
March 1929 to Peter and Alice (aka Rosslynn) Almeida
He was the second of 4 sons – Alex, Claude,
Billy and Donald.
Donald, the baby of the family is with us
today. The bonding between the brothers
was very strong throughout their lives.
When Claude was 10 years old, he and his
brothers were sent to the Catholic boarding school in India. When WW2 broke the brothers tried to enlist
in the army in India. Of course, they
were underage, and fortunately, the school Padre found out and shipped them
straight back to Nairobi, where they finished their schooling at Dr Ribeiro
Goan School. Dad recalled the excitement
of their ship being followed by a German U-boat en route to Kenya. That was the end of their short-lived war!
The Young Adventurer
Claude’s father Peter owned a motorcycle in
the 1920s. Naturally, that led to the
Almeida boys loving motorcycles and they all had a great love for adventure.
Claude bought his first motorbike, an ex-US Army Harley Davidson from money
earned from his first job and in February 1949, Claude, aged 20, Alex and 2
friends (Richard and Sanu Desai) decided to embark on a grand tour of East and Central Africa on their
motorbikes. As far as they knew, no one
had ever attempted that before. They
prepared well for the long 3,500-mile journey ahead on rough terrain, dirt
tracks and rickety wooden bridges.
On that trip, Claude and Alex climbed Mt
Kilimanjaro in 2 days with their local tour guides.
When they returned to Nairobi, they were
nicknamed the “Cowboys on motorbikes”.
This was the first of many trips and
adventures with his brothers and friends.
Claude loved the outdoor life, big game, fishing, and camping in the
game parks.
Working life
– East Africa and early travels in Europe
One of Claude’s first jobs was at Lowis Hodgkiss in Nairobi, agents for Austin, Jaguar and Triumph and in 1949 they sent him to England on a work-related trip.
In 1955 Claude, Mel Pimenta and 3 friends embarked on a 'momentous journey in a Ford Model T, driving from Nairobi, through Uganda, Egypt to Alexandra, sailed to Italy and toured Europe going as far as Sweden, Norway, and the UK. Their trip even made headline news in Norway!
Claude recounted that for the first time ever
because of that trip, he was late for work – by three months! But his company didn’t mind as Claude was
hardworking, talented, efficient, and organised with his work.
Alice, Claude’s mum was a true inspiration to
her sons, and she must have worried about her boys when they sped off on
spontaneous trips on dirt roads to Mombasa for midnight/early morning
swims. There were no mobiles in those
days to call home! They would just send
messages through friends as to where they were going. ‘….tell Mum we are just
going to Mombasa. Will back tomorrow.’
Claude was a keen rally driver and took part
in the 1958 Coronation and Mt Elgon rallies.
He test drove the BMC mini and Austin cars to near destruction on the
hazardous East African rallies. Claude
and his teammate (M Parker) never won because they often stopped to help other
drivers in trouble. This earned the most
helpful team award instead.
Family Life
Claude and his brothers were fun-loving boys
but remained true gentlemen and were very popular members of the Goan community
in Nairobi, always ready to help anyone.
The ladies adored them. But Matty
won Claude’s heart!
Having had many adventures, it was time to
settle down. Claude and Matty got married in June 59 in Nairobi and his job
took him to Mombasa and then Dar-es-Salaam, where they settled and had 9
children.
Claude faced many difficult moments in the
1960s, losing his father, Peter suddenly aged 60 and then his beloved brother
Billy in a motorbike accident in 1962.
Claude and Matty were people of great courage
and made a difficult decision to leave everything behind to start a new life in
England in April 1973.
They initially stayed with his brother Donald
and wife Alvira in Maidstone before settling in Broadstairs.
Claude
and Matty found work immediately. Sadly,
Claude faced another tough period when Matty died suddenly 8 months later in
December 1973. Jonathan, the youngest
had just turned one and Benita, the oldest had just become a teenager.
Claude made sure he kept all the children
together and wouldn’t let them be parted.
He worked hard to provide for them.
There were many wonderful people who helped the family during those dark
difficult days, relatives, friends, neighbours, school and members of the
Broadstairs Parish. Some of those people
are with us in the service today, whilst others have sadly passed away.
Claude made friends easily, was good natured,
charming and always had a smile on his face.
He married Pam who adored him and they worked hard to provide for and
bring up the young family. Sadly, Pam
passed away 15 years ago.
Claude was a motor parts manager, working for
Martin Walters, Invicta Motors and the Grand Garage in Cliftonville up until
his retirement. He was exceptionally
good at his job, and had an excellent reputation and won many awards including
a trip on the Orient Express from London to Switzerland. Many of his colleagues and friends are here
today.
Family
Life/Social Life
Claude had a big heart for his family – he
loved his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Many of his children’s friends considered
him as their Dad.
He enjoyed socialising and parties. The children recall the many parties in Dar
to celebrate one birthday or another, followed by singalongs and dancing. This
continued throughout his life in England.
His dancing stamina was amazing! He could rock and roll and jive with
the best. He and Pam were often the
first on the dance floor and the last ones standing when all the youngsters had
gone to bed. He was usually the last
home even in his late 80s!
Claude had an affinity with people of all
ages, young and old and treated everyone with respect. He was well known for his warmth and
generosity and made everyone feel welcome.
In fact, many who visited for just one drink ended leaving having had
just one too many!
Claude loved and played many sports including
cricket and badminton, bat and trap for his work team, and he and Pam played
for a darts team and enjoyed walking the boxer dogs.
The Older
Adventurer
Dad was an adventurer and a
daredevil, a family gene that has been passed on to his children and
grandchildren.
He loved nothing more than travelling,
seeing new places and revisiting places he’d been to when he was younger and
was ‘always up’ for trying anything new.
In fact, only a few years ago, Dad got
very cross with Benita & Iain because they wouldn’t take him to China with
them, not because they didn’t want to, but because it was rather difficult, no
make that impossible, to get insurance for an 85-year-old, daredevil!
Dad loved nothing better than going on
safari, sitting in the front with the driver, practicing his Swahili and recounting
his life. Dad was a party animal, who could party long into the night. In
fact, in Margarita, the bartender just left the drinks on the table, for the
group to help themselves and went to bed!! Another time, Dad & Pam
were put into a hotel in a quieter part of the holiday resort, but Dad was
rather upset because he wanted to be in the 18-30's hotel.
However, it would take far too long to
tell you all about Dad's holidays and adventures in his twilight years, but a
few of these were: China and Hong Kong for Billy's Wedding, Rome, Isandwana and
Rorkes Drift for the Zulu War and battlefields tours, Kenya, Tanzania, Cuba,
Margarita, Seychelles, Mauritius, Egypt, Poland, Turkey, Indian Ocean cruise,
Swaziland, and South Africa.
Dad went micro-lighting in Venezuela,
hot air ballooning over the Nile in Egypt, snorkelling in the waters off Wasini
Island in Kenya, parasailing and a submarine expedition in Mauritius.
Carry on with your adventures on the
other side Dad, catch up with your relatives and party on long into the night,
for this is not a sad day, but a celebration of a life, well lived!
Summary and
character
Claude’s passing was peaceful, and he even had
a smile on his face.
After his passing, the overwhelming messages
of sympathy and support received by the family said Claude was a real
gentleman, dignified, always smiling. He
always had a kind word to say and was a generous man who would help anyone.
Claude will be dearly missed. We are blessed with many happy memories and
time we spent together.
Remember Me
© Anthony Dowson
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