Terry & Marcia Fendom,

Terry & Marcia Fendom moved into The School House, Pink Road in ?

Hallmark July 1993. Terry Fendom named the Residents Association Committee member contact for Pink Road, upper part of Loosley Hill and Violet Close.

Obituary of Terry Fendom - 17th May 1941 to 17th October 2011 by Michael G Hardy. (put 'obituary' and 'charity' in Search for life stories of others)

Terence Andrew Henry Fendom was born to Eva and Harry Fendom in 1941, with Terry's sister Janet being born 3 years later. They lived in Plumer Road, High Wycombe, and Terry attended schools at Green Street and Mill End Road, and High Wycombe Technical College. Terry lived the first 30 years of his life in High Wycombe, and he kept very strong ties to his home town for his whole life.

Terry's grandfather seems to have had quite an influence in Terry's early life. He took Terry to matches at Wycombe Wanderers Football Club, a passion that remained with Terry for the rest of his life. His grandfather also introduced Terry to the novels of Cecil Scott Forester, and apparently the books featuring Horatio Hornblower have always remained close companions for Terry.

Terry and Marcia were married at St Lawrence's Church in West Wycombe in September 1967. Around three years later, they started on their journey towards Lacey Green, by moving to Naphill. Their son and daughter, Duncan and Andrea were born in 1969 and 1974. In the late 1970s, Terry's nephew and niece were born, so children were then a strong feature of Terry's life. After 18 years in Naphill, the family moved to Lacey Green in 1987. Terry and Marcia's son and daughter both got married in the early 21st century. By 2009, Terry and Marcia had three grandsons and one granddaughter, which gave Terry much pleasure.

Terry's working life had started in the early 1960s by being articled to the Town Clerk's Department of High Wycombe Borough Council. In 1969 he qualified as a Solicitor, and on 1st July was presented with his Certificate by Lord Denning, Master of the Rolls. Terry soon started up as a sole practitioner in Castle Street, High Wycombe, but after some years went into partnership with Roger Towner, Keith Haines and Jeremy Dawson. Their practice at one time had four offices, and is now known as Fendom, Dawson & Towner. Terry was always a popular solicitor who had a relaxed but professional manner, and he came from a time when solicitors would handle most aspects of the law, rather than the trend in today's complicated world for solicitors to specialise in different fields. Terry was well known for working with his own filing system. I am told it probably started because he originally had a very small office, with no room for filing cabinets, so he kept his case files in stacks on the floor and his desk, and any other available space. This then became a habit for the rest of his career. Terry became popular with High Wycombe's Asian Community, possibly because they found they were able to open negotiations over his fees. In 2002 Terry retired as a Partner, continuing with some consultancy work until 2008, and is missed by many people who came into professional contact with him. The respect for Terry is clear by the fact that the Partnership's offices closed on 27th October 2011 so that all staff could attend Terry's funeral.

Terry has always been keen on charity work and was a highly valued member of the High Wycombe Lions Club for over 35 years. Individual Lions Clubs (such as the 8 clubs in Bucks) are all part of an international network (of 45,000 clubs) dedicated to helping communities and those who need help at all levels. The Club has told me that they were very grateful for Terry's help with the necessary legal advice concerning potential projects. One regular activity of the Wycombe Lions is preparing and distributing Christmas Hampers to the needy, and I know that Terry was able to persuade other local people to assist with that project, and he received justified praise from Wycombe Police Station for his commitment. At different times, Terry headed the 3 main committees in the Wycombe Lions, and has been the only person to serve as the President of the Club on three occasions. The final time was from June 2010 to June 2011. I have seen a remarkable collection of photos of events that Terry attended during that year, all part of gaining support for various local deserving causes. It would make a hectic schedule for anybody, let alone somebody undergoing treatment for cancer at the time. As well as a great camaraderie spirit to the work they do, there is a social side to Lions Clubs, and at Terry's funeral service Malcolm Johnson gave an extensive account of some of the more light-hearted experiences of friends who had volunteered and socialised together for many years. One such friend of Terry's was John Crick who had long been Terry's companion as a fellow supporter and season ticket holder for Wycombe Wanderers, but sadly died less than three weeks before Terry.

Holidays were an important part of life for the Fendom family. A holiday each August was usually spent in France, staying under canvas for many years, before deciding to enjoy the luxuries of a caravan. Once their children had moved away, Terry and Marcia started to venture further afield, and have been to many diverse countries, including India, China, Cambodia, Thailand, Peru, New Zealand, Australia, America, Burma, South Africa and Zimbabwe. However they still enjoyed going back to France as well.

Having a long garden, there is really no choice but to get interested in gardening, so with their children growing up, Terry and Marcia must have decided to get more involved with one particular local organisation. The name Fendom first appears in the list of members of the Loosley Row and Lacey Green Horticultural Society in 1992. In March 2003 appeals were made (by Ginnie Brudenell and myself) for new Committee Members, and Terry was one of four who answered the call. Most importantly, the Society had no Chairman, but by October Terry had been appointed as Chairman. As most of us before him, he pleaded that he was no gardening expert, but I was able to assure him that we needed some-one to steer the ship, whilst having a good crew of volunteers doing the work. I was able to tell him that Committee Meetings had always been enjoyable sessions, and I am assured that they continued to be with Terry at the helm, always held in a committee member's house. Terry was keen to re-instate some social events which the society had run particularly well in the 1980s and early 1990s. They once again built a good reputation, thanks to Terry's skill in recruiting new and enthusiastic committee members who were pleased to tackle the challenge. The Annual Show also continued to be successful, again with new organisers being found when required. The Horticultural Society also used to run regular Plant Stalls, particularly at the fondly remembered Village Days. However it was difficult without a regular venue, so Terry suggested that the Plant Stall could be combined with National Mills Day, at the windmill, being at the most suitable time of year in the first half of May. With the necessary permissions, this has now become a regular feature and is of mutual benefit to The Windmill and The Horticultural Society (I can confidently say this as Hon Sec of one, and President of the other). During Terry's seven and a half years as Chairman, Terry and Marcia even hosted one demonstration meeting in their own back garden for the society.

Otherwise, and over many years, many local people in our villages will probably know Terry and Marcia best from seeing them walking their dogs. It was obvious that the dogs got their exercise along Pink Road at least twice every day of the year, whatever the weather would throw at them, and we all know that there cannot be a more extreme place to be out in bad weather than Pink Road. Incidentally, it was usually obvious that one of them found it easier to control their dogs, and it was not Terry.

An interest of Terry's from a young age was Motor Sport. He used to rally a 'frog-eyed' Sprite with Terry at the wheel and his friend Doug Tuckett navigating, until the car was somehow driven into the side of a Welsh mountain. Remarkably, this interest twice re-visited Terry during the last few weeks of his life. Terry and Doug had lost contact, but I was pleased to be able to put them back in touch so they could meet again at the beginning of October 2011. A week before then, Terry had made his last outing, to The Kop Hill Climb, where he was able to spend three hours sitting at the top of the hill watching the cars and motorbikes going past.

Terry was diagnosed with cancer in January 2011, but by May he decided to stop his chemotherapy treatment. In the same month Terry celebrated his 70th birthday, and in July he attended the Horticultural Society's 30th Anniversary event. Thanks to Iain Rennie Nurses, and Marcia's care, Terry was able to stay at home for most of the time until he died on 17th October.

Finally I would like to thank many people for their help in enabling me to write this, in particular Duncan Fendom, Keith Haines, Malcolm Johnson, Doug Nower, Roger Springall, and, of course, Marcia.

Terry has justifiably been described as an optimist, and not solely for his years of support for Wycombe Wanderers. I, and everybody I have spoken to over the last year who knew Terry and Marcia, have been been truly amazed at the optimistic approach they both managed throughout Terry's illness.

Marcia, Duncan and Andrea have asked me to thank everyone for their help and support during Terry's illness..