21/8/1929 - 3/10/2017Ernest Kellett died peacefully at Rutland Care Village on Tuesday, October 3, 2017, aged 88, after a short illness.
Ernest became an unattached member of the Rutland Branch in 2002 and was branch secretary for 2002 and 2003. He had been a founder member of the South Notts District of the Southwell & Nottingham Guild and its chairman in 1979 and 1980.
His funeral took place at Market Overton on October 17.
The eulogy given at the funeral:
Ernest Kellett has passed away and his friends will mourn his death for he was such a gentleman.
He had a brilliant mind and his intelligence shone out of him but he was so modest. He never spoke about his successes of the past and his quiet, gentle demeanour made him very relaxing company. He was always friendly and unfailingly courteous with an olde worldly charm. His ready smile and lively interest in all he came into contact with endeared him to friends and strangers alike. He will be missed.
Ernest was born in Bradford in 1929, and attended Carlton High School in that city. He then obtained his BSc (London), studying at Bradford Technical College. He joined GEC as a research scientist, being loaned to government labs in Harlow, Essex for his first two years.
In 1953 he married Val. Their partnership lasted 64 years and was one that many would envy for they were a couple who really enjoyed each other’s company and were rarely apart. They enjoyed games and their house and garden. Val is a brilliant cook and they enjoyed shopping for ingredients.
Following their marriage, Ernest returned to the GEC labs in Wembley to work in X-Ray crystallography. Ernest and Val made their home in Wembley for the next 20 years. In 1972 he was awarded an external PhD in physics by London University, having studied within GEC.
In 1973 they moved to Nottingham where Ernest was deputy director in research for the hosiery and knitting industry. They moved again to the Sheffield area, where Ernest served as Director of Research for the glass industry and retired in 1987.
Ernest was still was doing his crosswords until the day before he died.
Bell ringing was what made them tick. Ernest heard the bells on Doncaster station and thought it sounded great and resolved to acquire that skill. They were taught by George Dawson, tower captain at St Mary’s Nottingham, when they lived in Willoughby on the Wolds where Ernest was church warden.
He eventually became Chairman of the South Notts district of the Southwell guild of bellringers. They continued ringing after they moved to Yorkshire, living in the village of Hoyland Swaine near Barnsley, and ringing first at Hoyland Swaine and later at Kirkheaton near Huddersfield. Ernest had been church warden at Hoyland Swaine and parish secretary at Penistone.
In 2001 they moved to Market Overton where they lived to this day. Again they continued ringing, and Ernest became the secretary of the Rutland Branch of the Peterborough Diocesan Guild.
Competent and respected he gave great service to the church with his dedicated service to the world of ringing.
