Family tribute to man killed in A52 road accident

The family of James Phillip Carter, who was known as Phil to family and friends, and who died following a road accident on the A52, Threekingham,  on January 20th, have issued the following tribute:

James Phil Carter “Phil – or pops, or Gramps, or many of the other names as he was known to us – was such a larger than life character and lived life absolutely to the full. He was incredibly warm and so loved by so many people, not least of all by us his family, it was hard not to love him.

“He may have been 89 but he was really fit, healthy and active. He looked about 65 and acted 19. He was level-headed and never unwell, he never went to the doctor and you’d never have known he was the age he was because he was so sharp and had such an active social life with so many friends.

“We’ve since found out many friends of his also called him ‘Little Phil’ because he wasn’t the tallest man around! He lost his beloved wife around 20 years ago but he didn’t stop loving her, she was the only woman for him for his whole life. He served in the Royal Navy when he was a young man, having signed himself up because he wanted to go and serve his country, and from that he had a lifelong love of the Royal Marines music and classical music.

“Gramps has more than 20 grandchildren and great-grandchildren yet never missed a birthday and loved us all so dearly. We’ll miss him every day and miss not seeing his constantly smiling face and having him around to talk to – he was such a lively and large character that him suddenly not being here has left a huge gap.

“We would like to say a huge thank you to the emergency services who helped him following the accident and the people in cars who stopped to help – without them we don’t think we would have been able to be with him at the hospital when he passed away. We are grateful to you all.

“We are in the process of arranging his funeral but would like to ask anyone who wants to donate anything to not send flowers, Gramps did not like them, but to please donate to Cancer Research or to the local Air Ambulance.”