Russell Smith of Welgate Close, Mattishall – died in the Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital on 9th September following a car accident.

‘Russell was Mattishall’ and Mattishall was everything to Russell.

He was born in Mattishall on the 29th October 1919, the only child of Charles Herbert Smith and Lilian Jemima (Horne). They lived at Quaker House, Dereham Road, Mattishall.

Russell attended the Mattishall village school, and was a popular pupil he was also a member of the school and village football teams.

On leaving school Russell followed in his father’s footsteps and worked for A. J. Farrow of Mattishall, who's business was 'Motor Transport and Threshing Contractors' the villages largest ever employer, (information on Farrow's can be found on the Mattishall village website under the HISTORY section). Starting in 1934 until 1953 when Mr. Farrow died and the business was taken over by Walpole’s, Russell continued to be a loyal employee until his retirement in 1984.

Russell married Madge Brend 4th October 1961, daughter of Fred Earl (landlord of the Swan public house Mattishall). He thought the world of Madge’s daughter (from her first marriage) Gillian, and was always talking about her family. Madge and Russell were both very active within the village and when Madge died in 1997 he found it difficult to stay at home on his own. He soon became one of Mattishall’s best known, respected and loved village characters.

Russell attended almost every event and meeting within the village, he was a member of most of Mattishall’s clubs, he would support everything in the village that he could, and his letters would often appear in the Dereham & Fakenham Times and EDP voicing his opinion on various local topics, he was once a guest on Radio Norfolk.

If you wanted to know anything about this area or Mattishall’s past he was the ‘oracle’ he could not only give you facts but he would embroider the enquiry with many a story. He had a remarkable memory. The stories would often be told with a little twinkle in his eye and a nudge, nudge, wink, wink! On many occasion he would pull open his little old suitcase and present an old picture or newspaper cutting to back it up.

My own personal relationship with Russell could fill many pages but his enthusiasm for village matters and local history was the inspiration behind me starting the Mattishall Village Website, to which he contributed many hours.

He had a real dry Norfolk wit – One of his neighbours told me that after attending a recent funeral of a village shopkeeper (the day before his accident) he said “I think I’m going to be next” to which he replied ‘What makes you say that’ “cause the undertaker kept looking me up and down, I think he was measuring me up!”

He would attend every funeral in the village to pay his respects and more and more times recently saying ‘goodbye’ to old friends.

Russell was very proud of the fact that his Great Grandfather William Horne bought the decommissioned Duke of Edinburgh public house (now known as Edinburgh House) in 1896 and went on to sell the front of his property to the Methodists so they could build a church in 1900. His Aunt Emily Horne also gave some land so they could build a stable (now the church rooms). It is very suiting that this church is where his Thanksgiving Service was held and wherever he is Russell will have that sideways smile and twinkle in his eye pleased by the recognition of his family connections with the building and such goings on.

This Thanksgiving Service on the 22nd September will be the first funeral service in the village that he has missed for a long time but a lot of people were there to say goodbye to an old friend.

He will be greatly missed.

Ray Taylor