Obituary Kenneth Rolfe

Kenneth was born on 25.3.25. His education was of course at Blundell's and in due course, after he had finished his school years he was enrolled in the army, where he served in several areas, from taking part in the D Day landings, to, later, being part of the army police. During his time in the army, he learned to drive a bulldozer! This pleased him greatly!

Ken studied to qualify as a chartered surveyor and in 1958 he travelled to Hong Kong to work for the HK government in that capacity. He settled happily into life in the colony, and married his first wife Cynthia, with whom he had a daughter, Gabrielle.

The marriage did not last, however, and in 1971 he met Sue, who had gone to Hong Kong at the age of 9; her father was senior air traffic controller at HK airport. Sue had studied at school in HK, attended university in UK and returned home to teach at her old school. Ken and Sue married and had a son, Simon, who is an airline pilot. One of their great joys was spending weekends on their boat, a traditional Chinese junk.

Ken became due to retire in 1981. The family returned to England and settled in a Suffolk village. It was very different, and he and Sue both had to build their lives in the community, which was, and is, an active, social place where things are always happening. Ken's main interests were the study of military history, war gaming, and attending masonic meetings. He was happy in his life.

In 2018 it was obvious that Ken was showing the first signs of dementia, and after testing and steady decline in late 2019 he entered a care home only 2 miles from his home. He could be visited freely by family and friends and the home was caring, compassionate... and very professional.

On 20th January 2021 he was admitted to hospital with blood and organ problems and died there peacefully on 28th January. He was 95 years and 11 months old and said once jokingly that he had "hammered the HK Government Pension Fund!" He had had a fulfilled and happy life.