Allan Sisson
(1933 - 2009)

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General Details

Name:	Mr Allan Sisson
Gender:	Male
Age:	76 years old
Lived:	Saturday, 21 January 1933 - Friday, 3 April 2009

My Story

Grandad had been bravely fighting cancer for about 5 years. He found out last year that it had returned but he wasn't able to fight it this time.

He has finally been reunited with his wife, Muriel to finally rest in peace while we try to get over his tragic loss and remember him as best as we can. I love and miss you so much, grandad, sleep tight free from the pain at last.

My earliest memory of you was when you came to see mama in December 1990. I remember that the snow was bad and mum told me that you had crashed old "Rusty" on your way in. Apparently you had slipped on black ice on your way in. Even at such a young age, I was worried about you until I saw you.

Grandad was a scrap merchant and a coal miner. I don't know anything about his time spent down the mines except that he mined a local mine at one time. Ever since I could remember, grandad had a heap of scrap that he needed to strip (separate the metals) halfway up his back garden. Every time we went up there and the weather was nice, we used to spend hours rummaging through the pile to see if there was anything interesting among it that we could play with until we had to go home. We found a bike once which we enjoyed even though it had no tyres or innertubes on.

Grandad didn't have a lawn at one time, the whole garden was used exclusively for growing vegetables and every time he bought a new rotorvator, he used to fill it with peterol (gas) and leave it running while he had several cups of tea, listening for the roar of the engine to stop just so he could "see how long it runs for". The strange thing was that he was profoundly deaf yet he seemed to detect the exact second that the engine stalled although the moment could skip me by entirely.

He had a "scrap yard" where he would strip cars down for spares or just weigh them in for cash. This backed on to a golf course. On the rare occasions when we went there, we used to offer to "help him to collect the golf balls". We were meant to put them into a bucket but more often than not, they would find their way into our pockets rather than the bucket. The last time we went down to the yard, I went searching for golf balls as usual and spotted one in a bed of nettles. They hadn't grown that high so I guessed that I'd be okay to walk through them and kick the ball out. The only problem with that idea was that I usually wore trousers and hadn't allowed for the fact that I was wearing a dress that day. Obviously, I was getting stung so I lifted myself up onto the bonnet of the nearest car out of the nettles. This car had broken headlamps which I cut my knee on so I was sat there with blood running down my knee onto my lovely white ankle socks. I think my mum would have cheerfully killed me that day.

Grandad was a big fan of country and western and regularly used to attend a meeting dressed as a cowboy along with several other like minded people. He came to visit us one night and he had bought his gun along, too. As he left, I asked him to shoot it, so he did. The following day, we spent hours combing the grass, looking for the spent cartridge. We didn't know that it wasn't live ammunition that he had used but a blank. Hence we never did find that spent cartridge.

In time, I went on to secondary school and became ill with my asthma during the day and the school couldn't get hold of my mum so they called grandad who was the other emergency contact that my mum had provided them with. Grandad came to take me home in his camper van (he did a lot of touring). As he was driving back to his house, I was sat in the back and had to put up with tins, bins and the like falling out of cupboards. I actually got caught with one of the tins. When we got to his house and I told him, grandad said "You could have sat in the front with me". I thought "Yeah, thanks a bunch, Grandad, you could have told me that when we got in". Grandad was the sort of man who was quick to anger so you wouldn't dare to say anything like that to his face.

I also skipped half a day of school in order to avoid a detention. Unfortunately, that didn't go entirely according to plan, either. When I didn't sign in for afternoon lessons, the school tried to call mum but they couldn't get her so they called grandad instead who went looking for me. Luckily, he didn't find me. That night after school, mum had to take me to grandad's where I got a good telling off. Needless to say, I didn't skip school again after that. We went on vacation with grandad once and he had issues with the camper van while we were away so grandad spent all day repairing it in the pouring rain. Even after this, the van still backfired when grandad set off from a junction or traffic lights and people were looking round to see who had shot at them.

In time, I started to go to college part time where I did courses. I used to love taking the certificates to my grandad after I had finished the course. I hadn't finished a course until grandad had seen the certificate. He was so proud. Needless to say college isn't the same anymore.

Here's a poem written by Angelstar for grandad:-
Junkyard Grandpa!!!
They called him junkyard grandpa
But oh the things they found when they saw...
That what one classed as junk was really someone else's treasure And sure did fill our little hearts with lots of fun and pleasure!!!
How his garden grew And his strict and stern ways showed me through....
For with each word of praise,
he filled my heart with pride
And how we loved to travel with him and go for a short ride!!!
They only saw the gruff side
But that was only cause he was trying to hide
The tear of joy when they succeeded
Even if they didn't realize
it was with strength and determination that they succeeded!!!
Yes, junkyard grandpa was quite a man
He loved the land and took a stand...
You didn't get away with being second best
Nope he expected the best and until then you could not rest!!!
But, in the end, He may have been...
Junkyard grandpa to them But, to me, he was my best friend!!!

Latest Tributes

8 / 8 tributes

view all tributes

From: Becksta

Well, grandad, I finally got some pictures for you. I hope you like them!!!

From: Becksta

Thank you for keeping mum with us a bit longer, Grandad. There isn't a day go by when I don't miss you

From: Becksta
Song Name: I'll be missing you
Artist: Puff daddy

It sums up my feelings for you, grandad

From: Becksta

I know it's a dog, grandad, but it is the nearest to a horse I could find on here

From: Angelstar

He is watching you from above.... what a wonderful group of thoughts you have.... how proud you are of him and how pr...

From: Becksta
Song Name: One more step alo...
Artist:

This is because we sang this song at your funeral

From: Becksta

You are always in my heart, Grandad

From: Becksta

Well, grandad, I'm going to the galleries of justice tomorrow with a heavy heart because I know that after that, I on...

From: Becksta

I miss you so much, grandad. I'll visit your graveside soon because I'll have 2 certificates to show you!

Biography

Spouse's Name:	Muriel Sisson
Children's Names:	Ivan, Kath, Allan, Ann, Glenys and Terrance
Country of Birth:	England
Country of Residence:	England
City of Residence:	Ilkeston
Occupation:	Trades & Services
Marital Status:	Widowed
Religion:	Atheist