Mountfield

FRED STACE: The following is based on an abridged version of the Tribute that Dave Craven delivered at Fred’s funeral on January 26th. Frederick Walter Stace was born on Monday the 14th January 1929 to Nellie and Walter Stace at Blackbrooks Farm in the village of Guestling, East Sussex. They moved to Mountfield in 1936 when Fred was seven years old. After attending Mountfield and Whatlington School, Fred, aged 14, went to work for Oakleys, the agricultural engineers, where he stayed for 4 years until, at the ripe age of 18, he decided to join the navy. This was 2 years after the end of the war. For the first two years, Fred served on cruisers and destroyers, before transferring to submarines where he served for 10 years as mechanical engineer, eventually rising to the rank of Petty Officer. Fred met Betty in August 1947 and they were married nearly two years later in July 1949. Until 1954, Fred was based in Maltam where Betty joined him in 1952 and stayed until their return. Diane, their first daughter, was born in August 1953. In 1956, Fred returned to Malta, with Betty and Diane eventually joining him there until 1958 when the family returned to England and Mountfield. Daughter Sue was born in 1959, the same year that Fred was discharged from the Navy. Fred secured himself a job at British Gypsum where he used his engineering skills from the Navy to repair the mining machinery. Fred escaped from British Gypsum a few times but always went back again, before finally leaving for good in 1974. In 1964, the family moved to their dream home, 14 Mountfield Villas, a brand new house. Together they turned the house into a family home with Fred growing all his own vegetables, maintaining their lovely garden and enjoying the ideal country life. After leaving British Gypsum in 1974, Fred worked for Southern Water until his retirement in January 1994. Fred was always an active member of the parish. For a number of years he was secretary and chairman of the Men’s Club. For 26 years, Fred was a parish councillor,