Prestwich Cricket, Tennis and Bowling Club are sorry to announce that George Barry, long standing Tennis member, passed away recently.
George will be remembered as a tennis player and third team captain but also for his lovely character and his stylish singing, for which he was rightly acclaimed.
We will publish details of George’s funeral arrangements when we have them.
** UPDATE 17th March from Brian Lorenzini **
Sorry to have missed the memorial at the club today for our friend George. Extenuating family reasons existed.
These are some of the words I would have said today.
Memories of George come flooding back, whenever I opened the club up, he would be sat in his car waiting and his calling card was quite unusual ‘Has it gone yet or is due?’
All of us will know what he was referring to of course. The reply made no difference whatsoever as he set himself up in front of the bandit and commenced his routine.
To the club he was the CASH in cashflow and his dominating style of play never really rubbed off on Ian or David who remained long term fans but maintained their own playing style. Described lovingly by George as ‘tight gits’.
After making his deposit he would go and get changed and ready for Tennis competition and before he left the club on-route to the courts he would bellow ‘Lets kill the Bastards’. A truly one off guy and it was always a pleasure to be in his company.
His legendary photos from his numerous cruises were always a source of great amusement. A devout Man City fan with a real sense of their history. Another regular quote being ‘I see they threw it away again last night but we will conquer eventually’.
George travelled from his beloved Yorkshire home daily to work in Manchester and returned home via his beloved Prestwich Tennis Club (round trip of ca 80 miles). He was extremely competitive with quite an interesting calling eye remembered vividly by his numerous playing partners.
With him based in Yorkshire we were hardly ever treated to his famous singing voice, although we did have the pleasure of hearing some of his songs on CD’s which he helpfully brought across with him. The clubs around Halifax were blessed though. His artist name was Barry George and he was a very successful crooner.
George passed away recently from injuries incurred after a head on car crash. Sadly their was no Funeral or service for us to remember him and celebrate his life. He was buried in his family plot at Southern Cemetery quite close to his beloved Maine Road. Hence the reason for today’s memorial at the club.
RIP and God bless George you gave us many great memories and we will miss you.
** UPDATE 9th March **
Can all our members please note the following announcement.
As there is no Funeral or Service prior to his burial on Tuesday 10th March at Southern cemetery in the family plot, the club would like to hold a short memorial to a long standing member on Tuesday 17th March at 2:45pm in the clubhouse. This will follow the usual weekly Tuesday afternoon Tennis session for lots of Georges immediate friends and playing adversaries! All welcome.
George, a prominent Tennis member and life-long Manchester City fan, will always be remembered as a very special member with lots of friends across all our sections and this event provides everybody with an opportunity to share their memories of a real character of our club.
We will also be enjoying music from his personal CD’s labelled Barry George.
RIP George
