"WHAT a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong was a fitting send-off for Ron Moody, a Brentwood man who simply loved life.
Yes, Louis Armstrong was one of his heroes and jazz was a real passion, but moreover it summed up the former sailor's outlook.
Ron died on March 5, after 80 action-packed years. The grandfather of eleven, who married twice, was born in the East End of London, under the Bow Bells.
By the time he was nine years old, the Luftwaffe were bombing the capital and Ron and his sisters were evacuated to Devon.
He was one of the lucky ones – his custodians were great people living in a beautiful corner of the country.
After leaving school, Ron joined the Royal Navy as an electrical officer, sailed all over the Earth, and later trained as an electrical engineer and plumber.
Over a career spanning half a century, Ron – who moved to Billericay in the 1950s and then Brentwood in the swinging Sixties where he met his widow Marilyn, 65 – would perhaps recount his greatest triumph as installing the first ever computerised electrical system into the offices at R Whites in Beckton, East London.
Away from work, the father of five was a true family man who became a well-known face around Brentwood.
He was also a West Ham United fanatic and loved a flutter on the gee gees.
For six years Ron, who lived in The Drive, Warley, coached Warley All Stars youth football team when his son James was playing.
The 38-year-old said: "He was very, very family orientated with very traditional family values.
"Particularly with regards to women, he was very gentlemanly.
"My mum used to get up very early in the morning, but Dad would make sure he got up before her and went to warm the car up before she got into it.
"On the winter mornings he would wait for her at the bottom of the garden with a torch to make sure she could see where she was going."
He added: "He had quite a naughty, cheeky sense of humour – very cheeky indeed – and he appealed to all generations.
"He loved life and even if he was unhappy, you would never know it, he always had a very positive outlook on life."
Ron was suffering from emphysema and four days before he died he met got to meet Ethan, the last of his 11 grandchildren.
James said: "He will be sorely missed but by the same token we realise that he had 80 fun-packed years and a lot of people have said that they would buy his life if they could.
"He meant a great deal to many people."
Ron passed away in Basildon Hospital and leaves behind his wife Marilyn, sister Elsie, sons KevinBarry and James, daughters Sally and Philippa, 11 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
