Farewell to Scarborough lifeboat stalwart Eric Russell
A popular member of the Scarborough RNLI family, Eric was a member of the lifeboat support group, a shop volunteer and a brass polisher.
He was polishing brass, such as the fire hydrant, on the lifeboat as recently as six months ago.
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Hide AdEric worked as a BBC cameraman and as a freelance journalist specialising in electronics, and ran an electronics company.
He met his wife Dorothy at a dance in Worcester, when Eric was a trainee cameraman.
When Eric invited Dorothy out on a date, she refused until he agreed to take her for dinner. “My friends and I had a bet on who could be taken out for the best meal,” Dorothy said.
Speaking a few years ago, Dorothy described her husband as a “cockney sparrow” whose job, at one point, involved scaling the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral to film Winston Churchill’s funeral in 1965.
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Hide AdThe couple went to a Miss World final, the Last Night of the Proms at the Albert Hall, a Formula 1 race at Brands Hatch and numerous horse races.
They lived in Ebberston, Snainton, Brompton and Cayton before moving to Sandybed Lane 34 years ago.
The Russells, who had two children – Kate and Richard, loved jazz and attended Scarborough’s jazz festival as often as they could.