Dear Blogger
On 3rd December, Rob Rolfe passed away peacefully at home in West Felton.
ROB ROLFE R.I.P.
Samuel Robert Henry Rolfe, known to his friends as Rob or Robin, died peacefully at home aged 86, on 3rd December 2021. Rob was one of the most important pillars of Ruyton XI Towns community, for over 40 years – he baked our bread.
Rob Rolfe and his wife Jean, were so much the centre and hub of Ruyton XI Towns from 1958 until they retired in 1998.
There are so many of us in Ruyton who remember the wonderful bread produced by Rob and his father, Gardiner, until his untimely death in 1980, when Rob & Jean continued the baking.
In 1956 Gardiner and Florence Rolfe bought Dickin`s village Shop in Church Street and in 1958 Rob finished his National Service and joined his father in the bakery and his wife Jean ran the shop. When we came to Ruyton in 1969, I would take my order book down to the shop on Monday and Rob would deliver on Wednesday, he travelled all round the local area delivering bread and people`s orders. Door to door grocery delivery is not new.
People came from far and wide to buy Rob`s bread, I remember a farmer`s wife regularly collecting a huge week`s supply, presumably to freeze.
After such an early start, Rob was able to spend his afternoons playing golf, which he loved, until earlier this year. He did love a nice car, which he kept in immaculate condition, and was so proud of his latest motor, a Jaguar F PACE.
Rob and Jean were very sociable and had an active circle of friends. They were known for their splendid Christmas parties which started about midday and went on into the night. We will remember Rob for his beaming smile and cheerful chuckle.
When Rob and Jean retired to West Felton, he was able to play even more golf but also loved his garden which he kept in meticulous order, he was not happy when he eventually needed a gardener "They don't do it like I do it either"
Rob and Jean have been sadly missed since they left the village but Jean still supports any local events.
See attached the pictures taken by Margaret Lycett in 1998, when they left us without our locally produced Staff of Life.
The funeral will be at Shrewsbury Crematorium at 11.30 on Tuesday 4th January.
No black ties, family flowers only, donations to the Severn Hospice would be welcomed.
