Born 12th May 1934 in Hanwell, Middlesex to Thomas Henry Humphries Stapleton and Alice Maud Stapleton (neé Singleton), the second son of three brothers, Peter, Paul and Graham Stapleton.
Paul was evacuated from Hayes, Middlesex to Oxfordshire with his brother Peter during World War II and returned to his home at Precinct Road, Hayes in 1944. He attended Townfield School until the age of 15 when he joined his Uncle Frank’s butchery business in Hillingdon as a butcher’s apprentice.
Paul was called up for his National Service on 7th August 1952 and was trained as a cook in the Catering Corps and he returned to 42 Dudley Road, Southall on 30th August 1954.
Paul was married on the 21st June 1958 to his childhood sweetheart June Baxter, his next door neighbour since they were very small children. The happy couple moved from their flat in Hayes to Canford Avenue, Northolt and had two children, David and Susan. In 1965 they all moved to Denham, 7 Woodhurst Drive, where he lived happily for 25 years.
The pinnacle of his career was when he became the manager of a butcher’s shop in the North End Road with 12 staff. He then took on the challenge of being an insurance agent for the Co-op Insurance Company.
Paul and his father, brothers, aunt and cousins were very close, and he enjoyed visiting them every Wednesday to play golf or cards. He was especially fond of his dear Auntie Ann.
In 1988, Paul was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and he bravely battled this condition for 33 years. He never complained or showed any resentment towards his illness; he was always happy and would sing and tell funny stories and had a continuous smile on his face.
Sadly, in 1989 Paul and June decided to go their separate ways and Paul returned to Northolt.
Paul had many friends who supported and cared for him. He enjoyed nothing more than spending Friday evenings having drinks and a laugh with his close friends David and Doris Booker, Cyd and Margaret Adams, John and Irene Burks, Maureen and Den Brooker, Pat and Peter Jones and many more.
He was a wonderful Father to David and Susan and an amazing Grandad to Mia, Ava and Jacob. He was kind and generous, never miserable, and always had a joke and a laugh with everyone who came to visit him.
He will be greatly missed by us all.
Dear Paul, I miss our weekly chats on the phone and the visits pre: Covid. All the happy years we all spent together in Woodhurst Drive. A truly inspirational man with a great sense of humour , I was always smiling after a visit to Paul.
At peace now. X
Will always remember Paul’s great character and sense of humour. Always a pleasure to be with
I have very fond memories of Paul going back back to my childhood, of joint family holidays spent in Menorca and over the decades since I rennet his constant humour and his great friendship with my mum x
Growing up, Uncle Paul would spend many holidays staying with us at home in West Sussex, using the time to ‘bronze’ himself in the garden, playing the scratch cards you got free with the Daily Mail, and having loud and excitable conversations with anyone that came to the house. He had an infectious laugh and magnetic personality that meant my school friends would check they knew when Uncle Paul was coming to stay and look forward to visiting our house – being given a couple of his favourite mint humbugs and some life advice, always delivered with a funny story.
Uncle Paul would ask for a piece of bread with his dinner (he said it would ‘bind’ the food) – being the last one to finish his meal because he was chatting away, laughing and having a great time and I always felt he had an amazing knack of bringing a party atmosphere to any occasion, whether it be eating together round the table at home on a Tuesday night or a large family get together.
His unwavering positive attitude to life and ever present singing, jokes and generosity will be my lasting memories of Uncle Paul. He truly was one of a kind.
Very fond memories of Paul laughing and joking with my Mum and Dad whenever they met up. Lovely and kind person. He will be missed x
I have many happy memories of being with Uncle Paul.
One of the earlier ones is of him and Dad trying to help with my math homework and revision. The jokes seemed to make it easier!!
Since I moved to NZ, I always phoned Uncle Paul every couple of months. It was always good to hear his cheery Hello and catch up with Family news.
On our trips home, we visited Uncle Paul on the way to and from mum’s. He liked to hear about our travels and I enjoyed being in his company.
I will miss him.
Birthday celebration with all the family and Grandad’s friends.
Silly Christmas hats with Grandad 🙂
An old photo
Paul’s birthday, May 2014
Ava, Mia and Jacob May 2011
Photo – May 2011 when we visited David and Cassie’s house for lunch.
Photo at Ava’s christening party
Photo of Paul in Susan’s garden for his birthday bash
Coming to Sainsburys with me (Marilyn) in Sussex when he visited. Paul used to sit in the car while I went in and did the shopping. He had his Daily Mail to read till I got back, he was very patient.
Meeting at Susan’s house every year for Paul’s birthday with many of his friends and family there.
Visiting Uncle Paul with our daughter Imogen
Dad with Claire, Bryan and Alexander when they visited him from New Zealand
Meeting at Susan’s house every year for Paul’s birthday, with many of his friends and family there. Graham and Marilyn Stapleton
Friday night “wine making” evenings. (Note how wine making is in quotes – that says it all!) What a good time we all
had with Paul always managing to make us all laugh with his sometimes “wonky” but always amusing points of view on life. Miss chatting to him as he always made me feel better.