'Gentleman' Brian McKehon is a great loss to local sport
News of the sudden and unexpected death of Brian McKehon started to circulate around the local cricket grounds recently after he suffered a massive bleed on the brain in Withybush Hospital.
**The funeral will be held on Friday 27th August 2021 at 2.30 p.m. at St. Bride's Catholic Church, The Ridgeway, Saundersfoot, SA69 9LN (limited parking in Vintage Antiques' car park accessed off Westfield Road) and then 4.00 p.m. at Parc Gwyn Crematorium, Narberth. Dress - black or navy please.**
Bowling successes at Saundersfoot
After moving to Pentlepoir in 2009, Brian soon became an enthusiastic member of the Saundersfoot Bowling Club and enjoyed many years of competitive bowling, winning a few Club competitions along the way which gained him entries on the Club's Roll of Honour.
The highlight of his bowling days came when as 'underdogs' he and Stew Howe beat John Baggott and Pat Currie in the Senior Pairs semi-final at Whitland to qualify for the Welsh National Bowling Finals at Llandrindod Wells in 2012. Although defeated in the first round, it remained one of the proudest moments of his life.
A very good sports photographer . . . and superb fund-raiser
Brian's bowling days came to an end so that he could spend more time with his wife Susan, accompanying her around the many local sporting venues and supporting her by taking his own sporting images.
Susan would remark that it was always so much easier to sort Brian's images for the local press on a Saturday night because whereas she would take in the region of 1,000 to 2,000 images, Brian would come home with a mere 300 or so and always have managed to capture a brilliant image from each venue!
Along with his photography, together with Susan, he threw himself into fundraising for various causes, both local and national, and could often be found with a collecting bucket in his hand in the various lobbies of the local supermarkets.
Wide-ranging sporting interests
Brian had been an ardent Stoke City fan all his life along with his younger brother. I can always remember while staying with friends in Staffordshire, when they took us out for the afternoon and as they approached the then Britannia Stadium, his eyes lit up thinking we were turning left into the ground to watch the Saturday fixture. It would have been an understatement to say he was somewhat disappointed when our friends drove straight past and took us to spend the afternoon walking around a garden centre!
He was a steward at Lords for the England v West Indies 1994 series and again at The Oval, opening and closing the players' gate for the likes of Ian Botham. He also stewarded a few matches at Swindon Town, driving the other stewards to and from the game in the minibus.
Football and ten-bowling – and a sudden retirement!
From his late teens Brian found his niche as a pretty useful goalkeeper and enjoyed several years running a successful youth team but before that was an even more useful ten-pin bowler. Brian loved all sport and watched and played every event like the true gentleman he was.
His footballing days came to end one freezing cold night in Holbeach in the 1990s when he and Susan played in a charity match organised by Kuwait Petroleum, whom she then worked for. As he walked off the pitch injured, he took off his boots and deposited them in the nearby litter bin!
Helping football clubs off the field
At another time the McKehons ran the Wokingham Town F C Club Shop with Brian doing most of the work, especially ordering scarves, stock and sourcing programmes from swaps and purchases at away games.
Supporters from all over the place would come and visit the shop and love it because it was so full (thanks to Brian) of interesting and sometimes rare memorabilia.
Then when they moved to Liss in the late 90's he became involved on a voluntary basis with Liss Athletic and enjoyed a great time helping them out, and could often be found helping out behind the tea bar at half time.
On a personal note
On a personal note, Marilyn and I regarded Brian and Susan as firm friends and our brunches at Liz’s Bakery in Narberth always saw him eat the biggest breakfasts on offer with great gusto.
He was always interested in people, which was a special characteristic of his, and we think that using ‘gentleman’ to describe him was very appropriate in every sense of the word.
He was a tireless supporter of all local sport and will be greatly missed not only by his devoted and beloved wife Susan but all those who had the privilege of knowing him.