Good morning, I would first like to start by saying thank you for taking the time to come and pay your respects this morning to Anthony Patrick Eccles, Tony, husband, grandad, brother, brother in-law, uncle, friend, skip, DC, Sergeant 2575 or to me David and Andrew, dad (there were other names we use to call him in jest, but now is not the time or place).
 
He would have enjoyed seeing you all here, although I dare say, he would have enjoyed it more if he was the one delivering the eulogy, he loved an audience. As he did when he broke with tradition at my wedding and gave a father of the groom speech. Taking great delight in recounting embarrassing tales of my then forgotten youth and upstaging the best man speech.
 
It is hard to sum up a person's life in a few paragraphs, but when I reflect back, there is only one word that is needed to describe my dad and that is legend. It is often overused, so why does it apply to Tony?
 
 
 
 
L is for Loyal
 
The fact that so many people from different aspects of his life have taken the time to come today is testimony to that. He was a good friend to many and we thank those of you who  took time to visit him in the more recent and difficult times.
 
He dedicated his working life to West Yorkshire Police and even got a certificate and medal from the Chief Constable to recognise this when he retired, which made us laugh, but I think deep down made him proud.
 
Then there were the years he dedicated to Scouting and the many adventures he went on and the friends he made. This was a big part of his life and ours as a family, which he continued long after we had flown the nest.
 
Finally, there is his love and loyalty to his family. Most importantly to the 2 women he married. There are not many men who can claim 2 successful marriages spanning 50 years, first to our mum Gina and then to Margaret. He found it difficult at first when mum passed away, they had been married 29 years and together 34. However, he had the great fortune of meeting Margaret, who by all accounts he was besotted with. I know this, because he had offered to lend me and my wife Michelle his caravan for the Easter holidays to go to Cornwall. As we thought he was on his own, we decided to invite him along. The whole week he was like a love sick teenager, constantly checking his phone, to the point where I said to Michelle, I was going to throw it (the phone) or him over the cliff. Thankfully, I didn’t and they married later that year. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Margaret for giving dad another chance to love and for all the happiness, as well as the care and love you have given him in the last 21 years.
 
E is for Entertainer
 
Dad loved a laugh and a joke, you only need to look at pictures of him both as a child and adult to see his cheeky smile. His sister Maurine recollects him causing havoc with the other children and mainly the girls on their street with his pranks, for which she was continually apologising for.
 
He was at his best entertaining others, be that with his stories from his Police days around the dinner table or leading the singing around the campfire on Scout camps.
 
He was the self professed master of quick wit and repartee, the one liner, observation or gentle put down. He used these skills to great effect to write, direct and of course, star (as the dame, who else!) in Scout and later Church pantomimes, he loved a pantomime, …….Oh yes he did!
 
G is for Generous
 
Dad was always generous with his time, even when it was limited, due to the demands of work and family life. He played a big part in the life of St Ignatius Church, running the youth club, organising trips away and the summer fayres, from where we always seemed to come home with another goldfish or a new pet mouse.
 
He also dedicated a great deal of his time to Scouting, initially drawn in when I joined in 1979, but then taking a full and active role as a leader of the 9th Ossett Scout Troop and then later, as District Commissioner for Wakefield West. He loved organising activities, camps and expeditions, but above all, he loved the people he met, who to this day have remained his friends.
 
He was also incredibly generous to his children. Supporting us with our careers, paying for meals out, but above all for me, lending me his car and caravan. When I look back, I am not sure that there are many parents who would lend their 23 year old son and his three friends, their pride and joy for a week or two at a time, for the use of a Nissan Micra in return. But the holidays Michelle, Steve, Andrea and I had were priceless and we will be forever grateful for the opportunities which came from his and my mum's generosity, the trust afforded us and the memories it created.
 
His generosity even extended to helping my first school out on a couple of occasions. Running a casino night for the PTA and when he had just retired, spending a week in the Peak District on an outdoor activity camp. It didn’t stop there though, when I left the school the following year, he still agreed to go and help out, bunking in with my good friend Phil and by all accounts, having a wail of a time, laughing into the early hours, as they tried to master sleeping in the camp beds without rolling out.
 
E is for energetic
 
Dad was never one for sitting still, he always loved to be out doing things. He loved sport and would give most things a try. Sometimes this got the better of him. On one family holiday in Tenby, he wanted to demonstrate his footballing skills to the rest of the family. ‘Watch daddy kick this ball with two feet’ was the boast, as always the entertainer. Needless to say, it didn’t end well, with a trip to A&E, a broken wrist, a ruined shirt and a lifetime of reminders, especially from mum who never really forgave him.
 
Broken wrists were a bit of a theme with the over energetic Tony. At one scout camp, he came to set up an abseil at Woolley Edge. He thought he would test it out, but slipped at the top and only managed to slow down as he hit the ground. Once again, a phone call to mum, a trip to A&E and thankfully, only a broken wrist was the outcome. To be honest, I do wonder at times how she used to put up with him.
 
When it comes to being active, dad was a great role model. He started running regularly when I was a child, which led to him doing half marathons. I was lucky enough to do a couple with him whilst I was at university. On our first one together in York, at the 6 mile point, he thought he would entertain the crowd by doing a leap frog over a bollard, only to turn his ankle. He finished the run, but a long way behind. He even ran the 3 Peaks of Great Britain in 24 hours. There is no doubt that dad’s efforts have inspired both me and David to take up different physical challenges in recent years, to raise money for Parkinsons UK.
 
He loved to explore, taking the caravan all over to walk and explore new places at home and abroad with family and friends. Even when he was diagnosed with Parkinsons, he was determined not to let it slow him down, attending the gym and going on walking holidays with Margaret, one of their highlights being their trip to Switzerland.
 
N is for nurture
 
So many people have benefitted from dad's support and help over the years. Young police recruits at Bishopgarth or on the streets of Maningham in Bradford. Several generations of scouts and even young offenders at the Leeds attendance centre, where he worked on Saturdays, for a number of years. Even though he was a Policeman, his true passion was educating and developing others.
 
This also extended to his children. In his own inimitable way, he taught us responsibility, respect, resilience and self reliance. He gave us the freedom to make mistakes, but was always there to pick us up when we needed it and we often did. There were at least 2 occasions when he had to come and pick me up after I caught the wrong train and ended up in York instead of Wakefield, or refused to believe the compass and headed North into the Derwent Valley instead of south to Crowden. There was no annoyance shown, but there was a lot of mickey taking and you can imagine, with his self proclaimed gift of quick wit, he enjoyed every moment of it.
 
He passed on his passion for sport, exercise and the love of the mountains to us all. However, he did fail on one front. Dad was a passionate fisherman, as a small boy, as young as 9, his dad would take him to the harbour at Bridlington and leave him to fish from dawn to dusk (it was the 50’s and abandoning children all day was more acceptable then). Growing up, he promised to take me fishing when I learnt to swim a length. Honours survival award later (and many thousands of lengths in pyjamas retrieving bricks from the bottom of the pool), we went. First was half moon lake at Crofton and then a boat trip off Flamborough. The only thing I caught were the lines of the other fishermen. Needless to say, his passion for this pastime was not passed on to me or David, but he didn’t totally fail, as Andrew is a keen fisherman, so a 33% pass rate it is.
 
He never pressured us into doing anything, even when it came to studying and school work, but we always knew he cared and he wanted us to succeed. One of my lasting memories is what he said to me before my first A Level exam and as a parent and an educationist, this still resonates with me. It was around 7pm and he was cutting the front lawn. I came outside and said I couldn’t do any more revision and didn’t know if I was ready for the exam. He said to me ‘do you think you have done enough?’ I considered this question for a short while and replied ‘I think so’, to which he simply said ‘then you are ready’. Typical dad, succinct and to the point and he was right (which he liked to be).
 
D is for determined 
 
Throughout his life dad worked hard to achieve his goals, both professionally, personally and romantically. However, the biggest challenge came 18 years ago when he was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease.
 
Despite the challenges it presented him, he remained determined to carry on with life as normal. Going on holiday, attending the gym, walking, watching his grandson Sam play football and one of his favourite activities, eating out, he loved going to a restaurant, especially with all of his grandchildren.
 
Even when he went to live at Manor Croft and his condition meant he could no longer speak very well and he had lost his mobility, he never lost his sense of humour, his love of food or the twinkle in his eye, as the wonderful carers would testify. We would like to thank the staff at Manor Croft for everything they have done, especially over the last few years when COVID meant he was not able to have his regular visitors, especially Margaret and Anne. Also the local Parkinson’s support group,who provided a wide range of activities and opportunities to share experiences with a common understanding.
 
On behalf of Margaret, she would like to thank Tony for 21 years of happiness. She would also like to thank family and friends for all their support throughout Tony's illness. Especially Anne for all her help and support over the years.
 
Knowing dad he would not want us to be sad or grieve too long. In the words of one of his favourite storytelling comedians and Parkinson's sufferer Billy Connelly, ‘we pass this way but once’. What I do know is, he would want us to turn the page and start to write the next act to our own pantomimes.