Bill Reed

1926-2008

It is with great sadness that I have to write this obituary.

Bill died suddenly on the 19th August at home. Bill who with his wife Gladys introduced me to pétanque in 2001, after which we became firm friends. Bill was a member of Crowborough Pétanque club from the second meeting of the club in 1988. He took over as secretary on a temporary basis when the first secretary moved away in about 1989 and carried on until 2000. He was instrumental in creating the club into what it is today. Introducing many of the competitions and starting the friendlies with Canterbury, Cuckmere and Handcross.

When his brother died with Parkinson’s he was so grateful to the Compaid Trust for all the help and kindness they had shown to his brother he ran a competition which he and Gladys fully sponsored. The Compaid Doubles he has run and sponsored for the last eighteen years, raising several thousands pounds for the charity. He also helped other people to form their own clubs in Sussex. He passed his coaching exam to become a grade 3 coach. The club ran a competition to select a badge, Bill entered and his design and motto won. This is how our badge came into being. He liked drawing and was always happy designing or planning for the club. He designed and made the scoreboards and notice boards as well as the different game boards which have been used so successfully at various fetes. In 1990 he was one of the founders of the Crowborough and District Pétanque League which has grown stronger over the years and now has two leagues. However the accolade he was most proud of was receiving the Taylor Achievement Award in 1990 for making a significant contribution to the sport in the South East.

A great family man he celebrated his golden wedding in 2002 and the members of our club helped this celebration by joining him and Gladys for dinner in Langton. He was playing in the Sports Shield Doubles on Sunday and enjoyed himself winning all his league games, he looked really happy. That’s how I will remember him playing the game he loved and winning.

Tom Waldron