Star man and hospital stalwart Graham dies
Graham Jones, who was a stalwart of the Friends of the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford and was also one of the founding team of the Shropshire Star, has died at the age of 83.
Mr Jones, from Wellington, was also a well-known jazz musician playing with local dance bands, and had his own trio at one stage. He was organist at the hospital chapel for many years.
He was a member of Wellington Probus Club for which he served a term as president.
The funeral is at Telford Crematorium on May 31 at 2pm.
Mr Jones lived as a child at Arleston Brook and started to play the piano at seven, and by the age of 14 was playing in local dance bands and in concerts, his talents being much in demand.
"We would get a knock on the door some nights when we were going to bed and they would say the pianist had let them down, and he would immediately put his dress suit on and he was away," said his widow Iris.
At the age of 16 he had begun work setting type on the old Wellington Journal and moved over to Ketley as one of the original team that launched the Shropshire Star in 1964.
He retired as a compositor on his 62nd birthday in 1995 after a long career in which he had witnessed revolutionary changes in the printing industry.
Graham's 46 years of service included a three year break during which he was in the RAF, being sent to the top secret codebreaking centre at Bletchley.
"He was a teleprinter operator. He was driven to a place where he did all the teleprinting, but he never said where. It was the Cold War and he was not supposed to talk about anything."
At one point he was told he was going to Tangier, and had all the necessary injections, only to discover it had been a mistake and they had meant RAF Tangmere - and then when he arrived at that base on the south coast he was told he was not needed and was sent back.
While in the RAF he played with the Squadratones Dance Orchestra.
Mrs Jones said: "He was musical director of many pantomimes in the area and was musical director of Bridgnorth Area Youth Orchestra."
Volunteering at the Princess Royal Hospital, he became vice chairman of the Friends, and was to make a fundraising CD of his music.
"He raised over £500 for the PRH doing that. We have a few left and we are going to distribute them at his funeral saying that they are from Graham with love," added Iris.
