Fitting send-off
Colleagues in Horsham have paid a touching tribute to John Brooksbank, a much-loved postman who sadly, died of brain cancer.
John had worked as a postman in Horsham, West Sussex, for 33 years and was well known by locals throughout the district from the various post routes he had held over the years.
Last week, his colleagues turned out in force for his funeral. But because of the social distancing measures currently in place, they were given permission to do so in style with a cortege of 14 delivery vans escorting John’s coffin from Horsham funeral directors, Freeman Brothers to Crawley Crematorium.
Following the funeral, John’s son-in-law, Peter Reeve told the West Sussex County Times, ‘The family would like to thank all the posties in Horsham for their care and support throughout John’s illness and for coming to honour him in such a beautiful way.
‘He would have loved to see the post vans lined up in the sun like that.’
On Saturday, John’s colleagues raised more than £3,000 for St Catherine’s Hospice, who looked after John and his family, by donning fancy dress on their rounds in Horsham. On their Just Giving page, they wrote: ‘Just after the coronavirus lockdown, we lost a member of our Royal Mail family. John sadly lost his fight with secondary brain cancer. Since the lockdown we have been unbelievably busy and have had no time to pay our respects to John and his family.
‘We decided to do our deliveries in fancy dress to raise money for St Catherine’s Hospice, who looked after John, and for which, we are very grateful.’
Horsham delivery line manager, Steve Collins, said: ‘As we couldn’t attend John’s funeral in the usual way, we were granted permission for the use of some vans to pay our respects. It was a very proud moment for us all as members of the public stopped and watched as we followed John in convoy on his final journey to the crematorium.
‘We had agreed before John’s funeral that some of the staff could be sponsored to perform their deliveries in fancy dress on Saturday 25 April. We have been astounded by the generosity of the donations we received from colleagues and members of the public in John’s memory. We never expected any of the publicity that followed, we just wanted to remember John and make people smile the way he did.
‘We hope that in this time of need, our donations will help St Catherine’s Hospice provide the vital care and support they are renowned for.’
