Anthony Michael Pritchard, was born in London, 19-10-1945, and raised in Lambeth, South London, by Elsie, and George Pritchard. During the latter half of his early life, he became estranged from his father, George, owing to his parents seperating...This brought him even closer to his mum, Elsie. 'Tony' was a table tennis coach, performed with the national youth theatre, and attended the Lambeth school of dance, in his younger years. It was at the Lambeth school of dance that he met Shirley Ann Moss, aged 17, of Camberwell, South London. They fell in love and married. Tony was building a successful career in the 'City',Central London, within the Insurance industry...Their first born son, Steven(me), arrived in Feb 1974...In 1978, they had their second child, Nicola, my sister, who arrived in July of that year. Tony was a hard working and devoted family man, who always wanted the best for his family. He had a love of music-mainly Opera, favouring the likes of Pavarotti, Domingo, and Carreras; the three tenors...Pavarotti-rot your sockies-mum would say! I remember, growing up in various locations around South London; Babbington road, Streatham, Covington Way, Thornton Heath, and Florida rd, also in Thornton Heath. Tony continued in his successful career, working at Golding Adams, and Alfred Blackmoor Insurance...He rose through the ranks, from post room, to become a main board Director...His career culminated with him becoming 'Deputy Chairman of a Lloyds Brokerage' heading the Alfred Blackmoor Insurance Company. I remember on many occasions, as a young boy, going with him to see his offices, playing with the internal phone system, and drinking much hot chocolate from his his company vending machines!! I also have strong memories of Tony, going off on business trips around the world; places such as Hong Kong, Nigeria, Australia, and Germany. He would always send a postcard, and bring back nice gifts... Tony's hard work bore fruit for his family...We enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle, many nice gifts, and nice holidays...I remember the executive cars he had; Daimler, 7 series BMW, 'top spec' Granada, and of course the stalwart of our family 'taxis', many Volvo estate cars-usually top spec, and often purchased through 'SG Smith' dealership, then of Dulwich village, South London. Tony was shrewd when it came to money, and investment; He always said to me that it is wise to invest in property, if you can, and view it as a medium to long term investment...Tony's position within his company, and the shares he had for Alfred Blackmoor, made him a wealthy man...I can remember feeling very impressed, and proud of this man, my dad-something that a young boy would wish to emulate, or aspire to... Tony remained very close to his mum, and I have many memories of going to visit Elsie, his mum, my nan, at 31 Wentworth Crescent, Peckham, South London. Often we would go on a Saturday-I would love going in a nice car, and he usually played some form of Opera-Pavarotti, springs to mind! I also loved 'Val Doonican', and often this would be played-probably to keep me happy! I will always remember the family Christmas's...As a boy, I would often go with him to pick the nans' and Christine, my Aunty(mum's sister)...I was always quite excited and remember the heady smells of different perfumes as they all got into the Volvo estate... Alas in 1987, Tony suffered his first Heart attack, a combination of work related stress, and possibly 'overdoing' it with varnishing windows at 32 Florida rd, during a weekend...I remember having a family walk, and coming back, with him complaining of chest pain/shortness of breath...I was 13 at the time...In short, this changed his life quite drastically-he could no longer perform his demanding role, and reduced his hours, followed by leaving his city job. During the years up to these events, as a family, we had been having holidays in Selsey, a quiet retirement Seaside village, on the South Coast of England...We all liked this place,(I can remember long summer holidays there), and with the prevailing circumstances, eventually moved into Selsey, as Tony retired. Alas there were some problems with the sale of the 'London House', and this coupled with the loss of status(in my opinion), caused Tony to sadly suffer a breakdown. Fortunately with some residential care, he came back, and started to embrace his new life in Selsey... He initially purchased a large detached bungalow in Marisfield place, and later Beacon Cottage, in James street, Selsey, a large converted cottage(as the name would suggest)...Again an outward symbol of the success Tony had achieved in his career. Tony dabbled with a few things, and eventually ended up working with/for Paul at the local Spar, then Londis grocery shop...He purchased the business in 1995, and with the help of my sister, and brother in law, expanded it and ran a successful retail business. During this time he aquired the rights to have an internal post office, started a delivery service, and eventually purchased the fruit/veg shop next door-his mini retail empire grew quite healthily, and he was 'king pin', and in control again-which is where he was happiest...He often said to me that he had always wanted to run a 'store'.His dream had come to fruition. he also became the proud Grandfather to my Sister's children. I had various pieces of involvement within the 'family business' but alas over the years, as I grew more opinionated, we did have our 'clashes'...It was likened to the old bull/young bull scenario...We were both strong characters, and very similar in looks and intellect... I have happy memories of going on days out in his BMW 740i, with him, and loved to drive it... I also have two very abiding memories, of when my partner Kay, and I met he/my mum at Victoria Country park, around one fathers' day-ever the perfectionist, it was nearly perfect, except for the lack of ice cream with the strawberries-he had whipped cream instead...I had purchased him a pair of binoculars, which he loved... I remember him commenting on all the ships as he watched them sail along Southampton water...The other, is a family visit to South Harting, and I have some treasured pictures of that day...As I write this, I feel so sad that there weren't more of these! Life continued with the usual good bits, and bad bits. I remember Tony being hit very hard by the passing of his mother, Elsie, and then the death of the family dog, after many years, compounded the problem... Alas there were several periods of loss within Tony's life, and I think the sale of the Londis shop, and then ensuing financial difficulties were the catalyst to another breakdown he suffered circa 2005-I have a sad memory of visiting him, as a very sad, almost broken man... In my opinion, it seems that he never quite became his old bouyant self again-maybe one too many blows? In fairness he did recover, and take part in local stage productions again-always very talented, and proud to see him perform(both my sister and I also performed in a couple of these productions). His final move was to a nice cosy detached bungalow, both he, and Shirley looked set to enjoy a nice retirement...Alas, again his mental health did fluctuate, and he became reluctant to engage with much outside of his home...This was the source of much concern for Shirley, and the immediate family. I did see him on several occasions at his bungalow, and despite many awful things being said between us,we always had a hug, and said we loved each other... Tony started to become more bouyant again as he helped my sister/brother in law set up their new business...He was also actively involved with his grandchildren. Many years of smoking, eating red meat/fatty foods, and not enough exercise sadly took their toll when on Feb 16th 2011, Tony collapsed with a stroke...He was taken into St Richards hospital, where over a period of weeks made some good progress, although he was a very poorly man...He was due to be discharged on the morning of 12th April, but tragically suffered two heart attacks, and passed away... As his only son I am so very deeply saddened that because of another period of non communication, and maybe foolish pride between us, I never got to see him before he left us...I know that his prescence is deeply missed by the entire family. Dad, Tony, liked to be in control, but was a warm and loving man-I shall always remember this. Although in the end we weren't in contact at times, I always loved him, and will carry on so to do...A part of him lives on through me. His memory lives on through all of us... Anthony Michael Pritchard-'Tony' 'Dad' 19-10-1945 to 12-04-2011... God bless.