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Search forWestcountry mourns loss of "true good Samaritan"
Thursday, November 20, 2008, 12:40
Well-known in Penzance, Mr Lakeman spent 30 years building up one of the most successful vegetable wholesale businesses in the country; and in Torquay, where he spent another 30 years as a leading member of the Normandy Veterans Association.
Born in Plympton, Ken moved to Penzance in his early teens and attended the local grammar school before joining the railway in the ticket office.
He was quick to volunteer during World War II and after training with the Royal Corps of Signals landed soon after D-Day with the Canadians on Juno Beach.
He fought through France, Belgium, Holland and Germany and later in Palestine and Greece, and was mentioned in dispatches.
For many years after he never spoke of the horrors of war, but finally re-visited the battlefields and then became one of the most ardent supports of the NVA, holding various posts in Torbay and the South West region.
He returned to Normandy for annual D-Day commemorations and was at the historic 50th anniversary, attended
by the Queen and other world leaders. Despite failing health he also paraded at the 60th anniversary in France.
After the war he returned to his humble job on the railways but ambitious Ken was determined to take on new challenges. To help support his three young children he began growing mushrooms - under the stairs of his council house.
Answering a newspaper advert he was then employed by a Dutch company, Dan Wuille, to help selling Cornish caulilfowers, early potatoes and flowers to Covent Garden and other markets all over the country. Ken drummed up business initially by cycling around the Cornish lanes on his bike.
Over the years he established the large Dan Wuille depot at Long Rock where thousands of tons of Cornish produce would be loaded onto trains or lorries to be transported 'upcountry.' He helped the Isles of Scilly flower growers develop their business and was also a pioneer in encouraging farmers to pre-pack their produce and sell it to supermarkets and chains like Marks and Spencer.
Ken became a director of various companies in the Geest empire. After many years in Penzance, where his wife Decima James was born, the couple moved to Torquay where he continued to work part-time- liasing with growers all over the west - before retiring. Sadly Dec died 16 years ago, shortly before their 50th wedding anniversary.
Ken and Dec had three children, twins Terry and Sally and a second son, Geoffrey who was a Cornishman reporter before going to Fleet Street and working for the Press Association , the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mirror.
Ken had eight grandsons and nine great-grandchildren.One of his grandsons is the famous folk singing-star Seth Lakeman whose current CD reached Number Eight in the Top Ten album charts. Ken was very proud whenever he saw Seth on TV or heard him on the radio. One of Seth's songs, King and Country , was dedicated to his grandad.
As a young man Ken was a talented footballer and retained a lifelong love of the game, supporting Plymouth Argyle and Torquay United.
Journalist son Geoffrey said "Ken, who was known to his grandkids and many others by his nickname, 'Bumpy', was a very generous man who always put his family and other people first. A true good Samaritan, he would cross the street to help a stranger. After initially burying his memories of war he threw himself into his Normandy Veterans' activities, telling us "I've got to do it. I can't forget the poor boys who didn't come back and never had the chance to live the sort of glorious life I've had."
Ken suffered heart problems and other complications in recent years but 'held court' to regular visitors at the Carisbrooke Nursing Home in Torquay, where he died peacefully with his sons Terry and Geoffrey present. "It was very gentle and fitting for a life well-lived," said Geoffrey.
The funeral is at Torquay Crematorium, at 2pm on Tuesday, November 25.
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