Edward Anthony Garrard, known to everyone as Tony.
Tony was a kind gentleman with a great sense of humour.
Tony was born on the 29th May 1932 in Barnet, Hendon to his Parents, Ernest Edward & Helena Winifred. He was baptized on 30 July 1932 in the Church of Holy Trinity, Wealdstone. Tony was the younger brother of sister Doreen.
Family was everything to Tony and he leaves behind his 2 daughters Jill and Nicki, and 3 grandchildren Kirsty, Lora and Lisa. He also had 4 great grandchildren, Lisa’s sons, Archie who is 9, Harry 7 and Charlie 2 and Lora’s son Leo who is 8 months.
As a boy Tony attended Bridge School in Wealdstone.
On 21st September 1950 at the age of 18 he began his National Service and joined the RAF, to do all duties relating to pay and allowances of serving personnel. He left the RAF on 1st November 1953 having attained rank of SAC (Senior aircraftman/acting record office Corporal.)
He then went on to work for various companies throughout his life as a book keeper.
As Tony’s Blood Group was A RH Negative which accounts for only 8% of the population he also gave blood in his younger years.
Tony met Julia his wife to be at a dance in 1954 and they married on 22nd March 1958 at St. George’s Church in Harrow and it was in Harrow that they began their life together. Jill, Tony’s eldest daughter was born 26th September 1959. When Jill was 9 months old they moved to Amersham, Bucks. Tony’s youngest daughter Nicki was born on the 15th June 1963. Julia & Tony divorced shortly after but stayed good friends – they all still went on family holidays together which Tony really enjoyed. St Ives in Cornwall was a favourite.
Following his divorce Tony bought a flat in Northolt, Middlesex where he lived for quite a few years. Jill & Nicki would stay there at weekends and some of their school holidays. When his grandchildren were old enough they would follow in their Mums’ footsteps and stay with him during their school holidays. Tony would take them on holidays, to theme parks and to the theatre.
After many years Tony then bought a flat in Royston, Hertfordshire.
Tony had become very keen on running and competed in some of the less well-known marathons, but also ran the London marathon, twice! In 1984 (official time 4 hours, 7 minutes, 53 seconds) and in 1985 he bettered his time (official time 3 hours, 53 minutes, 52 seconds).
Later in life he had become a AAA Field judge for athletics - he was also a competitor and spectator and loved running.
Some 10 years ago Tony started having many falls and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. In 2013 he had one bad fall and was taken to Addenbrookes hospital in Cambridge where he stayed for a month. In March of that year Tony was transferred from Addenbrookes into Linden Court care home in Watton, where he stayed until the November. This was only temporary as he then moved into Nicki’s house where they had had an extension built to accommodate him. He received part time care and the family
would like to thank his carers Caroline, Nancy and Bella who made such a difference to his life. In 2016, Tony began respite care at Ashill Lodge care home where he would go for weekends. A permanent place then became available at Linden Court where he stayed until he passed away on the 12th August, aged 87. Both Jill & Nicki were able to be with him at the end which must have been such a comfort.
It’s worth mentioning that about a month before he passed away, he managed to swim a whole length of the 25m swimming pool in Dereham, which was amazing because he had never learned to swim!
Tony will be remembered as a very loving, caring Dad, Grandad and Great Grandad.

He was always happy and loved telling jokes, the family always said that he would have been good at writing jokes that are found in Christmas crackers. He loved doing Crosswords.
After he started to suffer with his Parkinson’s, he had many falls and the family nicknamed him as ‘Mr
Bump’.
Everyone said that Tony was a lovely, warm, kind & considerate man. He was such a gentleman and had a very calming aura about him.
The grandchildren and great grandchildren loved spending time with him and they all have very fondmemories of him. These are some memories from his grandchildren.
Kirsty - I will always remember my Gramps for his brilliant sense of humour, unconditional love and consistent support in everything I have ever wished to pursue. He truly was the best Gramps I could have wished for, my humble hero, who was always there for me. I have so many wonderful memories of him throughout our time together, but the ones that really stand out are school holiday adventures and dressing him up in anything and everything whenever we could, on all occasions! Fancy dress, ribbons, bows, boxes, you name it! Indeed, this continued right up until his final days when he was modelling my sunglasses on his hospital bed; forever providing us with giggles and chuckling along to our silliness, even when he was feeling far from his best. 
Lora - I will remember my grandad for being the best monopoly player and having the best half term holidays with my cousins. We would have to take it in turns to go and see him because having three of us at once was too much trouble! We would look forward to our turn and on the way would always stop off at the same pizza place on the way to his place. We would always get the same Hawaiian and that was a treat in itself! No other grandad would go on the world’s largest rollercoaster 3 times just to make us happy or let us dress him up as mother Teresa! I’m so proud that my grandad was the kindest man, treated his children and grandchildren with respect, and loved us unconditionally. You wouldn’t hear him say a bad word about anyone and he was the first to be around at family occasions or offer a helping hand. No one ever deserves to suffer such a terrible disease but least of all my Grandad, for someone so full of life, energy, and positivity. It was truly a tragedy for us to see those things taken away from him. He was a gentleman and a great role model for us all.
Lisa - My favourite memory of Gramps is when I dressed up as Father Christmas when I was younger and gave him some presents.