Appreciation - Peter Lawman

PETER NEVILLE MITCHELL LAWMAN

12th October 1941 - 24th October 2020

Pete was born in Storrington, Sussex. He was the eldest of 3 brothers, Pete, Tony and Ricky. Pete first set up home in Bristol, and later moved to Wallington. He married Christine in 1965 and they raised two sons, Mathew and Paul, and an adopted daughter, Victoria. He and Chris eventually divorced after 19 years of marriage.

After many jobs, Pete started a business selling Sedge peat. Initially, this was done from the garage at home, until a council official warned him that it wasn’t actually legal to do so. He found some old warehouses in Beddington where his business could continue to operate. He was soon joined by Tony with a floor coverings business, and Ricky and their dad, Neville, with Antiques and Restoration. Beddington Warehouse, as it was known, became a centre of the community. It would continue to grow and prosper for the next 30 years.

In 1984 Pete and Tina set up home in Copthill Cottage, Kingswood, and they went on to marry on July 4th 1992. They had a long and very varied life together, running their garden centre in Beddington and owning properties in Puerto Banus in Spain and latterly Portland, Dorset. They acquired an eclectic array of vehicles, visited many places, sometimes on their Harley Davidsons, and enjoyed many holidays in Spain. More recently, Pete and Tina had thrilling adventures in Canada, where they visited the renowned Churchill, with the polar bears. Next, they travelled to the US, and, on their Harleys, they toured California, even along the iconic Route 66, which fulfilled one of Pete’s lifelong dreams.

Over the years, Pete and Tina forged strong and enduring friendships with their neighbours in Kingswood. Pete was never happier than when he was in his

garden, tending things, building sheds or digging ponds and this afforded yet more opportunities for engaging with passing neighbours, listening to their issues and sorting life’s problems. He became a huge shoulder to cry on, a person to bounce ideas off and a listening post - for anyone. The fact that he was usually around for any of us to just go and chat with was a blessing to us all, chewing the fat on any topic you could care to mention, he was widely read and well respected.

We were well used to the sounds of the two Harleys up and down Copthill Lane, the burble of Tina’s Corvette, or the “Batmobile” camper blasting off to his Dorset retreat to where he so often talked of relocating. Thankfully for us he stayed put in Kingswood. His dense social network made us all happier and healthier and helped to bond our community. He was a generous and gentle giant of a man, promulgating a “live and let live” philosophy to all of life’s creatures including his fellow humans; nothing was ever too much trouble.

Pete had a triple bypass and heart valve replacement in May 2019 with the promise of “sorting the next 10 years”. Tragically, he never fully recovered from the heart operation and increasingly severe lung disease set-in. He was in and out of various hospitals until, on September 20th 2020, his consultants informed the family that he had only a matter of days to live; but Pete did not agree! He defied all predictions and eventually he did make it home - his last wish had been to be at home with Tina and to see his garden once more. Pete finally lost his battle on 24th October. Now, as we neighbours walk up the Lane, we sense the enormous hole that he has left in our local community.

Dr Peter Harris