Mike Pullan

The Eulogy given at his memorial service
Sun 16th Nov 2014

Hello, my name is Becky Wills; I am Mike’s younger daughter and I am very proud today to give this eulogy of his life. The eulogy was composed by Dee, Karin (my older sister) and Martyn my husband shortly after Dad died and was read by Martyn at his funeral in
Calasparra in Spain on Sunday 8 December last year.

Mike’s father Harold was a British policemen serving in Palestine in the 1920’s when he met his future wife Tamam, an Armenian refugee. At this time any relationship between policemen and local civilians were frowned upon and discouraged.

Irrespective of the condemnation, Harold and Tamam married in the 1930’s and Harold was forced to leave the police and they returned to Britain.

Michael (known as Mike) Pullan was born in Arnold, Nottingham on the 28 Feb 1935 and had a younger sister Ruth. The family moved from Nottingham to Norwich where Mike was brought up and did well at school. Following his schooling Mike moved to college in Norwich where he did not apply himself to his studies, his lack of application eventually causing him not to complete his college
studies. However, and fortuitously, he applied for and was accepted for an apprenticeship and joined Boots as a pharmacist in 1953.

He was called up for National Service in 1955,but elected instead to join the Royal Army Medical Corps as a soldier to allow him to continue his studies as a pharmacist, with the added benefit of financial security.

Completing basic training he was initially posted to London which was followed by a posting to the British Military Hospital in Singapore in 1956. It was here that he met his future wife, Dee, a nurse in the Queen Alexander’s Royal Army Nursing Corps.
Similarly to the experience of his father, the Matron at the British Military Hospital Singapore disapproved of this relationship and arranged for Mike to be posted to Tai Ping, in Northern Malaya some 24hrs rail travel away.

However, despite the efforts of the Matron, the romance blossomed and Mike and Dee returned to Britain and were married in Benenden, Kent in 1961.

Mike remained in the Army, rising through the ranks to be a Captain and eventually retiring from the Army in 1978.

Now with my sister and myself Mike and Dee settled in Crowborough, Sussex. Mike subsequently had a second career employed by a firm called WA Turners as a food purchasing manager for 22 years before retiring (for a second time) and moving to Spain in Dec 2007.

Throughout their time together Mike and Dee had two central passions: philately (stamp collecting) and an enduring wanderlust for travel.

Their diligence, relentless investigation and collection of Australian postal history ensured that they both became leading experts in their fields of study. Both Mike and Dee were elected as Fellows of the Royal Philatelic Society, London, one of the highest honours that this Society can place upon its members, although to Mike’s chagrin, Dee will always tell you she was elected first.

Since their romance in Singapore Mike and Dee have travelled widely; whilst in the Army, to Berlin, Northern Ireland, Hong Kong and the Far East, and after Mike left the Army, to America and extensively throughout Australia, they have travelled the entire coastline of Australia.

Mike was also an avid walker, who especially loved the Sierras of Murthia near their beautiful Spanish home and the South Downs in Britain; it is his wish for his ashes to bescattered on the South Downs.

Many of you here knew Mike; He was a natural gentleman, with the clearest moral compass. A practical man who enjoyed physical labour; he could dig foundations for a building or finish the interior of a building perfectly. He was also a good cook. Comfortable in any company, people just warmed to him, last December we were so touched at his Spanish funeral at the size and emotion of the congregation. He was a warm, humorous man, with a sharp intellect, quick wit and ready smile, truly right up until the day he died.

But above all he was a loyal caring man, demonstrated by his marriage of 52 years to Dee and the perfect father to Karin, a teacher, and myself, and very proud grandfather to Tom and Nathan. He leaves his grandchildren with 16 years of happy memories, the last, playing boisterously in the swimming pool in their home in Calasparra last September.

Thank you for your presence here today it means a vast amount to us.