Brian Jones – 30.07.2023

It is with much sadness we have received notification of the death of AF&RS pensioner Brian Jones who sadly passed away on 31^st July 2023.

Brian’s wife Linda sadly having pre-deceased him in May this year, leaving a son Ian and daughter Elizabeth.

Brian was a Firefighter stationed at Avonmouth who retired in 1991 having completed 17 years’ service. His funeral will be held on

Brian’s daughter Liz gave the eulogy at his funeral:-

Well, I didn’t expect to be standing here again quite so soon but as Dad & Mum always taught us as children, you can’t do something for one and not for the other so here I go – Well with the exception of Ian buying his first car, a Renault 5 GT Turbo, Dad went as his main driver to help get his insurance cheaper….. he never did that for me!! One day Ian, I’ll let that go….

As Ian has probably said to most of you here at some point, that I am the golden girl, not that I can remember but I think Dad always felt guilty from dropping me on my head when I was a baby, albeit I was in my carry cot, but he still did it and over the years, I have reminded him of this!

My main memories of dad in my younger years were of the proud serving fireman he was all though this meant him being on shifts working 4 days, 4 nights and then having 4 days off which during school holidays we spent a lot of time being with Dad.

Poor Mum at Christmas times having to control 2 children waiting for Dad to get home so we could open presents and probably like most families at some point in their lives, Dad having to find somewhere open on Christmas day to buy batteries.

Being allowed to go to the Fire Station was always a treat, especially when they put on Christmas Panto’s and parties. Being able to watch the Power Station chimneys from as close as we could was also a special memory. Occasionally if Dad was local to home, although he probably shouldn’t have, he would drive the fire engine to come and see us.

As we got older, when we knew dad was on his way home, we would be allowed to wait at the bottom of the road for him so he could pick is up in the orange Chrysler car – often referred to as Flea – He must have had some sort of reasoning for liking bizarre, coloured cars the 2 tone Brown Cavalier Estate was always a strange one but then one day we went out and he very nearly bought a Lada – why I will never know..

On the side, as did a lot of firemen they undertook other opportunities and Dad spent many years doing painting, decorating & general maintenance work, having to drag Ian & I along with him which was probably more of a hinderance. As well he continued from his younger days his passion for signwriting. One of his most proud pieces of work stood the test of time outside of Morgan & Westley and hopefully the honours boards done in Gold Leaf are still in various locations.

We would for many years have to stand in the garden next to the sign of the years old we were to have our pictures taken. Knowing Dad and never wanting to throw anything out, they are probably still in the garage now.

Unfortunately, Dad had to take early retirement from the service and soon found another job working at Bristol Crown Court as an usher then being promoted to a Senior, this was brilliant for me especially as I was able to complete my work experience and hear several stories of Dad having to be woken up for snoring in the court rooms.

Unlike Ian, my first car was my little gold Fiesta, which I would always call on dad to help me if it ever went wrong. One thing I remember with this car is I found some ‘Upgraded seats’ in one of the not so nice areas of Bristol so after work one day, off we went to collect them to be greeted at the door with the person saying – you are not the police, are you? We left fairly quickly.

When I started working in the Centre of Bristol, I used to commute most days with Dad, that was always quality dad & Daughter time. As I learnt to drive Dad would fearfully sit next to me, his knuckles spent the whole journeys being white, this still happened even quite recently even though I have been driving for over 25 years!

There are so many more memories I could share today but these can be talked about for a long time to come and will always be held in my heart.

Dad you were one in a million, you may not be with us anymore, but our love for you will never die. We miss you, Dad.