I don’t know really how to start putting into words what Grandad meant to me and us as a family. Initially when I think of him I’m greeted with an overwhelming amount of warm, loving memories and feelings – from as young as I can remember to just a few weeks ago. Its upsetting that for now these are tinged with a sharp feeling of grief and loss as I am reminded that he’s no longer with us, however, I know these feelings are just a reflection of how much he will be missed by us all and in time will be replaced with a warm fondness.

I’ve been struggling to process the idea of Grandad passing, like I can’t quite wrap my head around the fact that such a big personality with such a unique life history, perspective and humour has suddenly slipped from our lives. Death seems too reductive for such a remarkable man. In a way this is true because he hasn’t slipped from our lives, he may no longer be with us but his spirit certainly is.

I only had the pleasure of knowing Grandad for 24 years of my life and although us grandkids were the ones spoiled most by him, we only saw a fraction of what was an illustrious, interesting and notoriously busy life. Listening to Grandads many (many) stories over the years made it quite hard to believe that the same little boy who was evacuated as a child then went on to sing with his idol Guy Mitchell and saw Liverpool’s first champions league win with his own eyes in Rome in ’77.

Despite having such a tough start in life, he ended up living a long and incredible life, it speaks volumes about John Farrell that the most remarkable aspect about him was himself – his love, care and insatiable appetite to entertain. I can’t put into words how much he cared for his family and how joyous he always was to tell everyone about someone in the family’s new child, job or life event. When I think of family, the memories I’m most drawn towards are gatherings at 26 Billinge Road. Whether it was someone’s birthday, fathers day or just a summer afternoon, some of my fondest memories are playing cricket in the garden, sitting around in the sun and having all of us together. There is one that sticks out the most though and that is the Christmas party each year. The music into the early hours of the morning, the endless laughing and joking, the fellas playing poker and smoking cigars or Grandad being santa make those Christmases so treasured and special. Quintessentially Farrell.

I could write a whole page on Grandad’s passion of music. Whether that be just practising in the back room on his recordings, signing with the choir at the Royal Albert Hall or his inability to walk past a karaoke machine without sneaking in a little Johnny Cash. He sung wherever he went – up at the Ibrox or down in La Marina, that music and those songs will always be Grandad.

For a man to live such a full life, there has to be an equal – someone to balance him out – and that couldn’t be summed up more than Patricia Farrell. Her love and commitment allowed for the family to become what it is and she never stopped to do whatever she could to support both Grandad but also the wider family. She still fusses over peoples birthdays because she can’t let herself miss a single one. Whenever I miss them both, I really try to recreate her baked potatoes and I never quite get them right.

A few months ago I went over to stay with Nan & Grandad to cook them some Tapas. Whether he has in Garswood or Spain, Grandad could eat his bodyweight in Alioli. It was the last time I would stay over with the two of them at their house, where everyone in the family had spent countless nights over the decades. After we had eaten, we stayed up talking (me mainly listening) about his many life stories and one in particular has stayed with me in what I believe encapsulates him as a person and his view on life. He was telling me that as a boy his Mum suffered from Bronchitis brought on by working as a Canary Girl in one of the Munition factories in Liverpool. This made it difficult for her to sleep, so young John Farrell would sit next to her in the dark and fan her with a towel all night because it made it a bit more bearable for her to sleep. He used to do this thinking that she’ll be better by the morning because the night was causing her to be ill and he only had to hold on until then. This for me is my favourite story of his as it sums up Grandad’s spirit towards life as it shows his eternal optimism, his deep love for his family and his commitment to making his family’s life better – all the things he went on to display in abundance throughout his life. I know we all have a million stories about Grandad and its comforting to know that so many different aspects of him will live on through all of these stories we hold.

John Brian Farrell was truly the beating heart of our family, who brought us all closer together with his kindness, love and humour throughout the decades. His legacy will not only be the values he instilled in us all that we bring forward every day but the deep bonds he forged between us all which we feel each time we see each other. That’s what makes Grandad and our family truly special, is that no matter how long it has been since we saw each other, the love never lessens.

There’s a million more things I’d like to mention about Grandad but we’d be here all day. It’s a testament to the man and the life he led that he could never be summed up in a few words. We’re just lucky we had someone like him with us for so long. John and Pat created a family and a home that was so warm, inviting and full of laughter – we loved and cherished every moment of it.

We will all never stop grieving his loss, he leaves such a hole in our lives but that is only because he was such a unique, exceptional human being who radiated warmth to everyone around him.

We love and miss you so much already.

Thomas x