In Loving Memory
JOSEPH JOHN (JOHN HIXON)
11 September 1930 - 3 August 2006
Joseph John, better known as John Hixon, was born on 11 September 1930 to his mother Eleanor John on the island of Montserrat in the West Indies. He had a younger sister, Grace, who is sadly no longer with us.
Up to the age of about 10 years old, John found himself having to live rough and sratch a living as best he could. This is an early example of his significant strength of character to overcome adversity. It was a feature that was to characterise his life.
It was at this time that John was adopted into the family of Thomas Fagan and his wife Rose (whom he would call Miss Rose) of Cork Hill, Montserrat. From this point onwards, John grew up happily with his many adopted siblings, namely, Philip, Sally, Sarah, John, Sue, Elizabeth, Ursula, Cicil, Kathleen, Daniel and Kenneth. He became particularly close to Sarah (Mary) and Elizabeth (Liz). He was welcomed and loved by them all and truly regarded as one of their own. He knew this. He treasured it too. It was mutual. It was at this time in his life that John started to become the person we know and love.
During the next phase of his life John fathered a daughter called Paullette who in turn has had two children of her own called Sherodd and Shaneek. At about 1961, Sarah Allen (Mary) and her late husband paid for John’s passage to England. Once here in the UK John was generally always in work until he was forced to retire due to diabetes related disabilities in the early 1990s. Even then, he would still help out and mind friends’ stalls in his beloved Ridley Road market.
John was a religious man and formed a deep and active bond with his local Methodist Church and it’s members in Richmond Road. Sadly, since about a year ago he started to suffer a series of medical setbacks that cumulatively took their toll resulting in John’s sad departure on the 3rd August 2006.
John had the strength of character to overcome. For at least the last 2 to 3 years John had to cope with dialysis treatment 3 days a week with each treatment lasting about four hours. It required him to have a permanent tube inserted into a vein through which he would have continual trouble and infections. I never imagined anyone could live under those conditions for any significant period of time but he did. With little fuss or moaning. He just got on with it. In fact I would go as far as to say it is this same quality to overcome that probably helped make him so ill in the first place. It wasn’t until John was so ill and required some of his toes to be removed and his kidneys damaged beyond repair that anyone had inkling that he was unwell and that he must have been so for some time and suffering in silence.
John loved to travel. Admittedly, it was mainly back and forth to his beloved Montserrat but he did love to travel. He even went back after his diabetes was diagnosed. On a less grand scale John also enjoyed travelling on coach excursions that he mainly went on with his friends and neighbours at his home in Laurel Street. He had this incredible ability to acquire friends. He seemed to know just about everybody everywhere. Impossible I know but it just felt that way.
Finally, a little story typifying the man. When John Hixon first arrived in England the shoes he had brought with him were full of holes and worn out. Totally unusable for the traditional English climate. He agreed with Sarah Allen and her late husband that he needed to buy a new pair as soon as possible. Some days later John was asked what he was going to do with his first week's wages. He responded by saying that he was going to buy a blanket to send for Miss Rose, his adopted mother. Now, given that Montserrat is hot tropical place this appeared to make very little sense. However, when this was put to him he just said "in case she gets sick". This little insight into his thinking clearly shows the continued depth of love and gratitude he had for Miss Rose, the person who had rescued him from a terrible life, and taken him into the family home. In fact, he would always make sure, whether it be a mango or anything else, that the first of anything he had was always for Miss Rose. Sarah’s husband did manage to persuade him to buy a pair of shoes with his first week's wages but his second week wages went straight to buying the blanket!
Joseph John…John Hixon…I love you. I will miss you. Travel safe.
Paul Daley - August 2006
In Loving Memory of those who have died... Memory