SUNSHINE and laughter were mixed with tears at the service at Bow Parish Church to celebrate the life of William Percival Pickard.

William had lived much of his life next door to the church, growing up and then farming with his wife Hazel, who died three years ago. They retired in 2000 to live in the village.

It truly was a celebration of a long and well-lived life, someone who loved the countryside, cared deeply about conservation and his family.

William had a wicker coffin, two of his hats among the flowers on top, mainly wild flowers, with his hazel walking stick. There had been an idea to take his bike into the church. The entry music was Vaughan Williams’ “The Lark Ascending”.

William died on August 13 at the age of 92 at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital. His funeral service was on Thursday, August 29, taken by Rev Preb Anthony Geering.

He said how William had been born at Nymet Barton after his parents returned in 1920 from Australia where they had farmed.

He met Hazel when she went to Bow to ring the church bells. They got married and had five children, their home never being short of love and laughter.

In his Tribute to William, fellow farmer Nick Cordwent said how William seemed to have been involved in nearly every aspect of life in the village. One of his great passions was the Young Farmers’ Club.

He was a founder member in the late 1930’s or early 1940’s under the leadership of its instigator and President, Henry Cheriton.

Nick said how William had taken part in many of the YFC classes. Conservation was his first love and passion and seemed to creep into other avenues in which William became involved.

He was club treasurer, vice chairman, chairman and Club Leader before taking over from Henry Cheriton as President in the early 1980’s, giving an involvement with the club of nearly 60 years.

His main conservation project was his 17-acre nature reserve that had been saved from being drained in the Second World War and which became an SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) in 1981.

He was a Governor of the village Primary School for about 30 years serving as chairman for much of that time. Leaving the governing body in 1990, William had stayed heavily involved with the school creating the conservation area and the pond. There was also the William Pickard relay race run in the school sports.

He and Hazel gave a lot of time and energy to the upkeep and well-being of the parish church over their garden wall. Nick said that William became a Church Warden in 1978, filling a vacancy left by Bill Jewell, and continued until March 1999.

He had remained on the Parochial Church Council for a further 11 years, thus giving more than 30 years to the church. Not just that, he cut the grass, kept the graves tidy and also helped organise the September fundraising cycle rides for the Historic Churches Fund.

Nick said that William was “a very quiet natured man … who would get things done by quiet steady persuasion”.

“One thing I struggle to understand about William is that even spending all these years in this fantastic area of God’s earth that he loved so dearly, he failed to comprehend the whole English language.

“By that I mean, for him the words Can’t, Won’t and most certainly NO, did not exist,” commented Nick.

He added that far from memories fading, the local community would come to realise what a big hole William had left. There were smiles and laughter at parts of Nick’s Tribute which was given hearty applause at the end.

William had eight grandchildren and one great grandchild. His wicker coffin was borne by sons, grandsons and a nephew.

Donations at the service were to be shared between Cancer Research UK and Bow Primary School and may still be made in his memory through A White and Sons, Albert Road, Crediton EX17 2BZ.