Respects paid in Ancaster to well-known farmer and ‘honest gentleman’
The streets of Ancaster were lined with socially distanced mourners who paid their respects to “a genuine and kind man”.
Many people turned out as John Crowther, a well-known man in the area, was laid to rest on Tuesday.
He passed away aged 82, and leaves wife Violet, as well as daughter Wendy and son Howard.
John was born in Wilsford and lived there until he married Violet in 1964, when he moved to Sudbrook. He stayed there until 1989 when he moved back to Wilsford, before retiring in Ancaster in 2003.
He worked for the same farming family for 50 years, between 1953 and 2003, for Arthur Francis Stuart Dean.
Howard described the turnout to his father’s funeral as “something else”. He said: “He was born and raised in this area, lived his life in this area, and there were a lot of people. From the crossroads at Ancaster where we live, all the way through to the railway bridge in the village, which must be close on a mile.
“It was great. There were even people that he knew from his working life and they’d travelled to stand by the side of the road to pay their respects. That was something else. It was really nice to see.”
John was a great outdoors person and finished his working life as a gamekeeper.
Howard added: “There was a nice turnout of gamekeepers, people from the shooting community. He was just well-known and the turnout shows that.”
Howard spoke of happy memories, of helping his father on the farm as soon as he was old enough. He would work in school holidays and even when he started work in Grantham, he would use his weekends and days off to join his dad.
Howard said: “I spent a lot of time with him and that carried on even when I left school and started work. Even then, we had the same interests. We spent a lot of time when we moved to Ancaster doing up houses and that sort of thing, the gardens, putting up new fences.
“He was very keen on his vegetable gardening. He always liked to grow his own carrots and potatoes. He was keen until the very end and even when he wasn’t able physically, I would do that for him under his supervision.”
John had dogs throughout his life and was a good trainer. He worked his dogs and used to go to the shoots in the area. Howard described him as “honest, kind and generous”.
“If he could do something for someone, he would, out of kindness,” Howard added. “He didn’t expect anything in return. We’ve had a lot of cards and they said what a good and honest gentleman that he was.”