Tribute to 'warm, generous, kind and loving' Hastings solicitor Gerald Funnell

Gerald Funnell started his career in the early 1950s, working as a trainee solicitor for John Lester.

His wife, Joy, said her husband, who died on January 13, lived most of his life in Hastings and St Leonards.

She added: “Gerald was a warm, generous, kind and loving person. He was always happy to help others and he served on many committees for the various activities he was involved in, using his legal knowledge where he could. He was an avid reader and loved history, and also knew a vast amount about classical music.

"We were chalk and cheese with my love being country music, but as they say opposites attract. We had 38 wonderful years together and found we shared a great love of travelling and just being together.”

Gerald was born in Hastings in June 1934. His grandfather was a wheelwright and his father had various jobs before the Second World War.

Joy said: “In September 1952 he started work in the office of John Lester, a local solicitor, where he was articled. There he learned about the wonders of work in the courts, as well as conveyancing and probate.

"In 1958, having as he put it ‘fooled the examiners for the last time’ he qualified as a solicitor. The Army decided that he was not suitable to do National Service so he stayed with John Lester and was soon to be found in all the local magistrates courts, the County Court and the County Court Office.

"His work expanded in the early 1960s when he became one of the solicitors instructed by the Hastings Borough Police Force to prosecute in the magistrates court. The high point of his career in that field was making two appearances as an advocate in the Hastings Quarter Sessions; representing two young men who had been part of the mods and rockers riot in the borough. In 1970 he became a partner in the firm of John Lester & Co and was also made ‘A Commissioner for Oaths’ by the then Lord Chancellor.”

In March 1976 Gerald set up his own practice, Gerald Funnell & Co, in Queens Road. In 1990 the firm merged with Perring & Co to form Funnell & Perring.

He retired from the practice in 2006. In 1990 he became chairman of the Solicitors Property Group until 2000 when it was disbanded. In 1989 he became president of the Hastings & District Law Society.

Joy added: “He was an active lifelong member of Christ Church, St Leonards and was involved in many aspects of the church over the years. In 1968 he became a member of the committee of the Christ Church House Improvement Society Limited. In 1965 he became one of the trustees of the Patronage of Christ Church, St Leonards, remaining so until 2014. He served on the committee of the Hastings Central Cricket Ground from 1984 until 2004.”

Gerald married Lesley Langford in 1960 and they had three children, Sarah, Joanna and Dominic. He was divorced in 1978. In 1984 he married Joy Parrott, the daughter of a local councillor.

Gerald’s funeral will be held at Christ Church, St Leonards on Monday, February 20 at noon.