Cloth & Sponge Shiner Mourned

Hard-working Leamington window cleaner always had a smile on his face: With nothing more than a bucket, mop, cloth and sponge, Reginald Stanley Jones made many a window in Leamington sparkle and gleam. The 83-year-old was well-known around the town for his friendly manner and honest, hard-working ways. He died on December 23 after suffering from a short illness and will be sadly missed by his wife Betty, son Chris, daughter-in-law Louise and grandsons Max and Dan. Son Chris said: "He was described by his customers as a true gentleman. He had old fashioned values and people always said he had time to stop and talk to them and say hello." Having scrubbed panes around the town since 1953, Mr Jones received a plaque for 50 years' service on his retirement five years ago. The Leamington resident took up the trade at his father's then 60-year-old business in the same year he got married, worked with his brother Bert until Bert's death in 1993, then carried on solo for another ten years. Mr Jones hardly missed a day's work throughout his 50 years except for a short spell in 1965 when he slipped off his ladder and had a bad fall. He ended up in a coma with a badly injured foot and fractures to his head. But on waking, he was so keen to return to his job, he immediately asked nurses for his clothes.
Born in Regent Street in 1925, Mr Jones was one of eight children. He attended Milverton School before becoming a van delivery boy for retailer Burgis and Colbourne. When he was 17 he started work as one of the first Bevin Boys at Binley Colliery in Coventry, where he stayed for four years and later received a medal for his services. Later on, while working at Milverton sawmill, he met Betty, and the couple got married at St Paul's church in Friar Street, Warwick, in 1952. Mrs Jones said: "One customer said Reg was so honest they could leave him alone in the shop. "He always used an old-fashioned mop, cloth, sponge and bucket and refused to take up more modern methods of window-cleaning.
"He did not have any hobbies - he just liked working all the time. He would start early in the morning and come home at tea time. He was a very strong man." The funeral service is at Oakley Wood Crematorium today (Friday) at 3pm. Floral tributes are welcome but donations, if preferred, can be made by cheque payable to Warwickshire Association for the Blind and sent to The Co-operative Funeral Services, 52 Warwick Street, Leamington. Call 428665. Sundari Sankar