Jimmy Wallis
Jimmy died on Sunday and was buried at Moate on 2nd November 2005, at 2pm
There follows a collection of memories to which on the 15th November Samantha and family responded thus:
We, the Wallis family, would like to give our sincere and heartfelt thanks to everyone who has sent e.mails to Chris's web site. it's wonderful to read all the stories that you wrote about Dad(Jim). It's brought laughter and tears to us at this very sad time and has brought back lots of memories for Mum (Trish). We cannot thank you enough for taking the time to send your memories of Dad for everyone to share. Thank you so much for your condolences.
Patricia, Ian, John and Samantha.
Below is the text of a speech given by me and at Jimmy Wallis's retirement party at UCD last summer. (Needless to say this was only one of three retirement parties as demand was so great. It is rumoured that Commercial had more drinking done on another club retirement party than in any previous function that year and there were demands for a re-run!)
If you have any anecdotes or memories of Jimmy send them to me at this address and I will put them up - no matter how unpublishable!
Chris George
Good Evening, Ladies and Gentleman ............................................................. and friends of Jimmy Wallis!
The last time I spoke at a dinner such as this with Jimmy Wallis was, I think, in 1970 when he had just been appointed as Boatman to ULBC. Jimmy was not a man for ceremony and he made his imprint on the UL "establishment" very early on. I had been on the appointments committee interview and he clearly shone out as the best candidate, despite a total lack of any boat-building pedigree. The UL representative was a chap called John Harrison, who did the day-to-day work, but his boss, who was in the ultimate command, was a certain Group Captain Dickie Richardson - who has I found out only on reading his obituary in the Times was an original Pathfinder navigator in World War II and a very great man in his own right - anyway, Group Captain Richardson was a formal man and, having earned it, used his rank and title. A couple of months after Jimmy had joined us, the Group Captain decided it was time to inspect the new " recruit", so, with a view to making a visit, he rang the boat house............."Group Captain Richardson here - to whom I speaking?" quick as a flash came the reply "Driver Wallis here, Sir". there was a long, silent pause and the ' phone rang off. Rumour has it that Jimmy was never visited by the boss for the next eight years.
It is good to be asked to say a few words about Jimmy because, after the passage of some 35 years, I finally have the chance to get even with him for the extensive range of practical jokes - or "hits" as the Aussies colloquially refer to them - which Jimmy has perpetrated on me during this time. In 1977, on leaving us and on his joining you at UCD - a strange land compared with his London East End at "Gladstone Warwick Boat Club" (now part of Lee Rowing Club) - I don't know how long it took for him to pull his first "hit" on your club mates but I hope to be told later. At ULBC, it was practically in his first week!
In 1970, UL has a hard, a fearsome man, one Andy Bayles - the seven man of the 1968 Olympic eight - still rowing at the club. Andy was a "top dog" and had an annoying habit of usurping a spot in Jimmy's workshop in which to park his bike to keep it away from thieving hands. At the start of the new season, a pink-cheeked, fresh from the country, 17-year-old called Neil Keron joined us and, on seeing this bike in the workshop, enquired of its provenance. Jimmy, seeing a golden opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, promptly 'sold' Andy's bike to Neil for the princely sum of £5 and sat back to watch the fun. History does not relate how Neil and Andy resolved this state of affairs but Neil went on to represent Great Britain in the 1976 Olympics, so Jimmy's early lessons in ruthless must have paid off!
With Jimmy, there is no rancour with such "hits" because we always knew we could rely on him when the chips were down. For example,- and you will know that Jimmy is not over-religious - inclination, in 1976 he performed a miracle. Andy Bayles by this time was rowing for Thames Tradesmen. There was only one slot left for the Olympics - the coxed four. Trials were at Nottingham in April. Oxford, Cambridge, Leander, UL etc etc... and Thames tradesmen with Andy were all there. When the the boats arrived at Nottingham, following a motorway mishap, the first 6 foot of the Thames Tradesmen boat - a wooden Empacher - arrived as a collection of large splinters in the back of the Thames Tradesmen van. Tradesmen's trials for the Olympics were over. No boat could be found in time. Jimmy Wallis was there as our (UL) Boatman. It was self-evident that the boat was not repairable. Not to Jimmy! 14 hours later, following an all-night session, sticking each splinter together with Araldite rapid, he had stuck the whole bloody thing together and put on a new bow canvas. it is a tribute, not only to those days when sportsmen used to help each other but also to Jimmy Wallis, the person.
Another episode that demonstrates the character of Jimmy Wallis springs to mind. Jimmy and I were driving back from Lille University, France, towing the boat trailer. For this purpose, I had bought an orange "Bedford" 1600 cc van for the princely sum of £110. It was the sort of vehicle that needed a following wind and downhill slope to overtake anything on its own, let alone when it was towing a trailer. We were on one of those long stretches of straight road common in France and I had decided that conditions were right to overtake a French truckie who had been an annoying 3 mph slower than us for the previous half-hour. a mile and a half into a 3 mile straight and we made it level with his cab at which point three things happened:
1 the downhill element changed to uphill
2 the French truckie took one look at us and decided he was not going to be overtaken by a beat-up, British, orange van
3 a very large French lorry appeared over the crest of the hill ahead of us and started "his" downhill run!
This state of affairs carried on for what I felt was a lifetime but probably with only about 30 seconds . The chicken situation was resolved by the quick-witted Wallis who, on the passenger side of my vehicle, pointed down to the wheels of the French truckie beside him to indicate a fault. A momentary look of doubt and the French truckie braked . A massive pileup was avoided by about 2 nannoseconds as our trailer snucked in just in time.
Jimmy, as you know, is a bit of a piss-taker. Thats spelt P. I. S. S. - taker. What you don't know is that he is also a bit of a piss-giver, which I found out to my cost when I was so foolish as to use the same bathwater when I hopped into a bath after him on a trials weekend at Nottingham! So, Jimmy, can I ask you if you really thought that it was lemon in the gin and tonic I gave you that you so much enjoyed before dinner?
Jimmy's anecdotes typify the man - funny and memorable so if you do little else tonight you must persuade him to tell you how he made Patricia faint with his John the Baptist trick of putting his head on an split paper plate covered in tomato sauce in the middle of a split table with a tablecloth over it!
P- ersonable
I - nimitable
S -exy
S -ensible
T -olerant
A -ctive
K -iller sense of Humour
E -nergetic
R -eliable
That's our Jimmy.
SLAINTE
From Robert Treharne Jones
I joined Barts Hospital Boat Club at the same time that Jim arrived at UL and we spent the next seven years getting in each others hair. I particularly remember asking him how difficult it was to sectionalise an eight. 'Dead easy, Robert' he said. 'The tricky bit is sticking the two halves back together again afterwards.' Twenty years later I caught up with him at his house behind the boathouse at Islandbridge, where I was being given the 10 cent tour by Micheal Johnston, since I was now writing a lot about Ireland's internationals. Jim had just had his hip replacement and was languishing in his favourite armchair with a glass of whiskey in his hand, but he still recognised my voice calling through the front door, and then gave me a robust salesman's pitch on the new loves of his life - wooden rocking horses and clinker-built drinks cabinets! RIP.
With fond memories of Jimmy. George Parsonage.
Brian & Bridget Johnson and all our staff at Spartan Clothing (Malvern) Limited.
We were deeply saddened today to learn of Jimmy's death. What a lesson on how to enjoy life he gave to us all. We have many fond memories of Jimmy and the wonderful hospitality and humour that we were so priveleged to share with both he and Trish. We had the pleasure of staying at their home on many occasions whilst exhibiting at Neptune/Commercial Regatta. The night that we all went out to dinner and Jimmy insisted on driving us in that 'oh so famous Morris minor of his' that had no glass in the windows, a dodgy gearbox and brakes that certainly did not work very well will live long in our memories. As if that was not bad enough, Jimmy then decided after a few drinks that it would be great fun to squeeze as many of us into the Morris minor for the return journey home in the early hours of Sunday morning and then proceeded to do a u-turn at a great rate of knots in front of a group of Irish Policemen in the centre of Dublin and disappear off as quickly as possible into the sunset!! What a night that was! We have lost a very dear friend and will always treasure the wonderful table that Jimmy crafted for us from an old boat; it has pride of place in one of our rooms and will always act as a constant reminder of a truly wonderful and kindhearted, humorous man. Our thoughts are with Trish and the family. Please be strong as Jimmy would have expected nothing less. Brian & Bridget Johnson.
Pat Sweeney
I just read the sad news of Jim's passing. Please send my regrets and condolences to his family. I have fond memories of hanging out with Jim at the UL boathouse in the afternoons, just chatting and having a laugh. He always managed to see the funnier side when others where taking things too seriously. Pat.
Rob & Elspeth Pinckney.
Please send our condolences to Trisha & family, I'm so sad to hear of his death. He Rowed with us in the Oxf/Lond VIII in 1974 & his humour helped us to the Record books!! He also turned up for our 2004 reunion, & we all had a very good evening courtsey of PSB at Henley. I'm sure we've all got a lot of stories about Jimmy, & all of them are so hilarious. I couldn't possibly put them down in writing! (Ed. THAT was the challenge!) He will be sadly missed.................. Regards. Rob & Elspeth ULBC/TSS
Peter Fabricius
St Thomas's Hospital Boat Club Annual Dinner. Summer '75 or '76, probably the latter because I was getting perilously close to becoming a respectable citizen - you know, I mean those difficult years between UL and a pension, when you are supposed to behave and have to go out to work. Anyway, Jimmy had the wheels and had agreed to drive his new motor up to STH. Getting all the way back to Hartington Rd without being stopped seemed too good to be true; it was. We were passed ULBC and right outside the Wallis's house (83 Hartington. Ed) when Old Bill called for a review of process.
"Your car Sir?"
"Of Course"
"May I see the documents Sir?"
"Well I've only just bought it."
"I see Sir. Can you tell me the registration number?"
"I haven't learnt it yet"
"Ah, and where do you live Sir?"
"That house there" (pointing).
Old Bill looks across at me "And I suppose you live next door Sir?"
"Yes Officer."
This was going badly although a little ground was gained when Jimmy was able to predict correctly the contents of his boot before inspection - Samantha's toy pram.
The night was won and the breathalyser avoided only by Pat yelling out of the window that Jimmy should come in straight away because she wanted him now!!
The world is a poorer place without him.
Peter
And a wonderful wandering through the mists of time by the inimitable Donald...
Donald Legget
So sorry to hear about the passing of Jim Wallis and Dr Noel O'Brien. I can remember that Jim, Hugh Twiss and A N Other (Hugh would remember who this was) looked after the boats on Moscow Airport in 1973 till we later went to try to collect them. Hugh told me that they all kept warm by getting in the Jet Exhausts of Jets which were leaving ! When we went to collect the boats, the Russians said they were not there - they had all been signed out for - though we could quite clearly see them stacked at the end of the runway.
Sad also to see Noel O'Brien passed away last month. He was Doctor on that trip and shared with Roger Vincett. Noel took in 2 Flagons of Gin as ESSENTIAL Medical supplies. These ran out about the same time as the Berioska (Duty Free) shop at the end of August so it was a tense day or so until September supplies came in.
Times remembered with such affection. Ron Needs with crates of sickly-sweet DYNAMO and other BEECHAM goodies which we used to bribe the Russian waiters for more steaks. Laundry baskets full of food in case there was none (as had happened to the Italians on a recce trip - hence their non-appearance in 1973). Chris George was there himself with the UL 4- Those indeed were the days........
We flew from Luton in a Fokker Friendship loaded with the BOATS on board, all chartered by Bill Clarke. I think the 2- (Lennie Robertson and John Yallop) left their riggers behind. I was nearly arrested for 'stealing' a towel and a napkin from the first Hotel. Luckily Hugh Twiss bribed the Hotel and paid them a fortune out of secret funds. Lucke and Gunkel (GDR) smashed a glass door down in the Rossia Hotel after winning the 2+. The Australian cox was revived by Robert Lee (Cox of GB2+) with copious amounts of Beecham's DYNAMO. The hotel was surrounded by police after the party but then it was one of the largest hotels in the world and I managed to keep out of trouble for once - mainly speaking for about an hour to Bob Janousek (not allowed in behind the Iron Curtain) about GB's first medal for a number of years with Hart & Baillieu in the 2x (Bronze).
and a quick response from Hugh.... (don't know about that "despite being UL " Hugh!)
Hugh Twiss
Sorry too to hear of their passing. Remember them both with many very happy memories. Jim, despite being UL, was always friendly & helpful. Noel was a very special doctor, a great person to have on such trips & as you say had a very good medicine box! Noel used to live just by the BP petrol station/Latimer School on the way out of London to the M4 & I always think of him when I pass. The other person at Moscow Airport was John Stephenson.
I was at Moscow airport again in 2003 & spent quite a few hours waiting there so was able to mark the 30th anniversary of that bizarre event. You forgot to mention about the coffin which was left behind the weekly PanAm flight as the widow flew off to bury her husband! Let alone the team busses racing each other & the British team singing! I still have the photo taken of me which was displayed in the boathouses there under a heading " A man and a megaphone". Happy days & many happy memories. Best wishes to you all. Hugh
Addendum:It [this website] brought back many happy memories & events I had forgotten about. Yes, Jim was a great character & someone you could very much rely on, particularly when in a mess. My comment about "despite being UL" was that despite the keen rivalry between UL and the LC at the time, he was always friendly, helpful and good fun. It very much supports your comments. As you said he was very good at getting you into and out of situations. Our time at Moscow was a classic.
Guy Lewis
So sad to hear about Jimmy, although I had heard about his tumour during the summer. I first met Jimmy when KRC boated from U.L for the HORR, in the early 70's and, whilst waiting for the rest of the crew, watched in horror as Jim took a Bow Saw to a gleaming wooden V111 as he started the sectionalisation of the boat ! I sometimes think that I must have imagined the whole thing but Robert's earlier tribute convinced me that it happened. Guy
Simon Hamilton
I was very sorry to hear of Jim's passing. He was a great character and always had time for a chat and a bit of humour. I remember him on the Liffey and later over the years always had the pleasure of a few minutes banter with him. I wish to pass on my conodlences to his wife.
Graham Davenport
Very sorry to hear of Jim’s death so soon after retiring and please pass on my love to Trisha. They both made my 3 years at UL in the early '70s great fun and never a week passed without some practical joke being played on some poor unsuspecting oarsman (usually Chris George).[in your dreams! Ed.] I remember being the first oarsman to move into the student house in 87, Hartington Road (I think about 1971/2) and managed to grab the downstairs room with French windows on to the garden. One hot sunny Monday morning in summer after a particularly strenuous regatta the day before, the thought of going into central London to sit in an outpatient clinic was most unappealing. I therefore opened the French windows and moved the bed so the head end was outside in the sun and poured myself a large Bacardi and coke with ice and settled down to sunbathe and listen to my hi fi system. Unfortunately, the next door gentleman had 2 teenage daughters who spotted me lying in bed in the sun and told their father who promptly reported me to the Postgraduate Dean and I had to explain my inappropriate behaviour the following day !. Jim was most upset that I had been “shopped” by the neighbours and suggested a plan of action. The next sunny weekend, saw me walking gingerly into the garden with my swimming trunks packed with a large carrot and 2 King Edwards. I lay down on a towel and watched the next door’s neighbours upstairs windows through the corner of my sunglasses. Within half an hour the net curtains started twitching as the neighbour’s teenage daughters stared with amazement at my lunchbox and this continued for the next hour until I nonchalantly strolled back into the house with the towel over my shoulder.
3 days later, several of us were in the kitchen drinking coffee with Jim when the doorbell rang. Who should it be but one of the girls from next door asking if she could borrow some of my records. I don’t think the girl ever realised why everyone in the kitchen immediately convulsed in laughter !!
I also owe a great debt to Jim for fixing me up with a job as a barman in the Bull's Head where he also worked in the evening and weekends. Not only was he constantly trying to provide me with suitable “totty” from the pub’s constantly changing clientele but he also taught me all the tricks of the trade. I learnt more about human behaviour in the Bull's Head than from my 6 years as a medical student !
Thanks a million, Jim. We had some great laughs together and I am sure you have got the angels in stitches already!
Professor Michael Gleeson
It was with very great sadness that I heard from PS-B of Jimmy’s death. Please send Trisha my very sincere condolences. Jimmy rowed at 2 in our Oxford to London record-breaking crew in April 1974, immediately behind me. His name is next to mine on the oar that hangs in our home. No moans or groans throughout the 110 miles - just a bunch of encouragement and good natured, if risky, humour. It was exactly the same in March 2004 when the crew gathered for an anniversary paddle at Upper Thames in Henley. Afterwards, he entertained the whole of the Tappas Bar – and I mean the whole of it! As Captain of Guy’s Hospital Boat Club at the time Jimmy arrived at UL, I found him a pillar of help and support that enabled me to develop a very junior club. No words can ever adequately express my thanks.
Jimmy, as everyone knows, had a quick wit no matter what the situation. In the mid 1970’s I was undertaking a minor operation on Jimmy on a part of him where the sun didn’t often shine. We were rudely interrupted by a senior member of the hospital staff showing a female dignitary around. Unfazed, Jimmy realizing that the woman was a little shocked by what she saw before her eyes, chirped up “Sorry love, you’re just too late”! No-one could ever get the better of him either. One year the social secretary of our boat club invited Jimmy to the Christmas dinner and told him to wear a DJ. This he did but found himself the only one there in formal dress. He didn’t take it too well! Three months later, we wondered why our crew was beginning to blow badly at Barnes Bridge in the UL Head of the River. Jimmy had paid us back by shifting the buttons by one inch!!!
Jimmy added colour to all our lives. It was a privilege to know him and to row with him.
Kind regards
Michael Gleeson
Former Captain Guy’s Hospital Boat Club
President Kings College Boat Club.
PS. You may want to edit this! [Ed. Agaist the rules Mike!]
Brian Fentiman
So sorry to read about Jim. He was a great guy and Friend to all of us. I remember how he was always willing to help out those of us from different clubs, as when I was as Quintin, before I really got to know him through you via our lightweights '74 onwards. Often recall how he repaired a boat at Nat Champs with fast-setting filler for a final, which suggests the advantages of plastic over wooden boats. Can still see his smiling face as I it was when I last saw him back in the '70s.
Brian Fentiman
Ex-Quintin and Light Weights '74, '75, '76 , '77 & '78.
Brian Barter with an absolute Gem. Keep them coming from that side of the water...
I think that the website is a great idea. Jim was a great man for his stories and the more of them that are retold and kept through this site the better. I was the captain of UCD at the time of Jim's retirement (you and I met that evening) and I remember your speech very well. I have lots of stories about Jim some first hand and some less so, but all entertaining. I have included one short one below and I hope that you deem it "appropriate" to be added to the list. Please edit it if you wish. [Not in the rules Ed]
met Jim very soon after joining UCD Boat Club in 2002 and the fact that this man was one hell of a character took no time in becoming apparent. His stories are legendary and there are many which will undoubtadly be recounted for many years to come. This particular one is less famous but I think it's still very "Jim" if you get my meaning......
Jim and I were driving out to Blessington to pick up a trailer during the summer and our conversation moved to different London rowing clubs. I mentioned to Jim that my brother was in the London School of Economics but that I didn't know if they had a rowing club. Upon hearing this Jim started to laugh in his very distinctive way and began telling me a story the details of which I am open to correction on. The basic gist was that LSE had at one time a decent, functioning and active club but that it had gone into decline. They had shared a boathouse with a club that Jim was involved with [ULBC at Hartington Rd Ed]. So, when LSE were no longer using their equipment Jim couldn't let it go to waste and began utilising it for his own club. I think that the boat in question was a particularly nice coxed four. [a wooden Stamphli, if I remember, called 'Tyrany of the Majority' or 'Dictatorship of the Proletariat' - depending on whether it was the coxed or coxless bow section being used. Ed]. The amusing part was when, several years later, a new raft of LSE students took to the idea of rowing and, when they approached the college, were told that all the LSE ties were with such and such a boat club [ULBC] but that it was years since anyone had been actively rowing in LSE. These individuals then headed down to the club to have a look about and were immediately introduced to Jim. He explained a few things here and there about the lie of the land in the rowing scene. This group then went about securing a grant from LSE to buy the use of a craft. At which point Jim on behalf of his club sold LSE their own boat back to them and charged them rackage for the year. ...Jim was a great man his voice and laugh will be sorely missed in Islandbridge. If you have a story send it in and well done to Chris for the idea of this great website
Clara Thornton
I was a member of the last crew which Jim coached in UCD in 2003/2004. Jim took us all on as novices & coached us for the year. We all have very happy memories of Jim but there is one memory which always stands out in particular. One day my crew & I were all having a cup of tea in Jim's house in Islandbridge after training. Someone asked him who he thought would be in the UCD Ladies Novice VIII for the Colours Sally Moorehead cup against Trinity. Jim starts listing off everybody's names who he intends to take part in the race. I can remember waiting anxoiusly to hear my name called out because I really wanted to be a member of the crew. The next thing he calls out 6 names & announces 'Well obviously well have the lumps in the boat as well'. We all look at him a bit confused & my friend Sarah leans over & says, ' Eh, Clara I think he is referring to us!'. So from then on Jim never called us by our Christian names but instead referred to us collectively as 'The Lumps'! Now I've no idea how we let Jim get away with calling us this rather unflattering nickname but we did! Jim's charm let him get away with murder! Anyway, I just wanted to add that we all have very fond memories of Jim in UCD &, without a doubt, he is the man responsible for instilling the love of rowing in all the ladies he coached that year.
Nigel Press
Chris, So sorry to hear the news about Jimmy, have been working somewhere remote (plus ca change) and the news only just reached me. Please let me know Trish's address so I can write to her directly. The web site is a marvellous idea and perfect memorial which Jimmy would love. The anecdotes could go on, and so they darn well should for such a great guy, in every sense from generosity to humour! The stories are innumerable. Remember Andy Bayles walking back up the hard holding just his oar handle? (what did he do to deserve that? - I still have the two bits glued together hanging in my barn), or the contents of the shoe box found in the wardrobe after a particularly wild night? When I started my 6 years at UL, we had old Bill Phelps, and we thought we had some funny stories about him, but with Jim everything changed. His final joust at our '71 winning Ladies and Visitors crew came 20 years later. We had agreed to re-row a race from 20 years earlier in the tea interval of 1991 Henley. (Actually it was against the crew that beat us in the final in 1970, but we fielded the crew that won in 1971!). Well, it was great to meet everyone again, we had the complete crew and Jimmy, although in Dublin of course by then, was our boatman for the day. I had a few (yes just a few) beers with him the night before and he showed me the Dublin boat we would be borrowing - it looked good and we gave it the once over. Next day, there was a degree of frisson, and we were keen to show the UL pedigree (actually the Dutch didn't look as trim as they had 20 years before). There was a bit of a hiatus over boating and Jim rushed us onto the water. It was only after we had tossed the boat that we realised the bugger had frigged it overnight and I (the original 7) had to stroke it with Tony Stocking behind, not in front of me! Somehow Jim always managed to sneak something in to brighten any day. Peace be with him and our very best wishes to his family and friends. Nigel.
Rob Pinckney
All these ditties have jogged the grey cells into action. One particular episode involved a memorable trip to Amsterdam in '73 with the UL squad. We got stopped on the way down to Dover by Plod, due to the trailer swaying, Jimmy was driving! He was asked to identify himself, so he got out Chris George's passport & said he was one of the same!! & when asked "How long is the trailer Sir?" Jimmy shoved a 6" ruler in his hand & told him to measure it himself!!
The rest of the trip is abit of a blur, but I do remember Jimmy being asked to do the response to one of the Dutch dignatories at the banquet in our honour, due to the UL captain "laughing at the pavement " over the balcony. He was not well!! Well, dear Jimmy was lost for words, so he jumped up on the dinner table & proceded to do the "Dance of the Zulu warrior"!!! - scattering plates, knives etc..........The Dutch were much impressed, & a very good evening was had by all.
Peter Blaseby
Incidentally, I was very appreciative of the tribute to Jimmy Wallis. I knew him from his River Lea days, when I was active at Curlew, apart from his period at UL as the successor to Bill Phelps.
Deirdre Fallon
Firstly I would like to say what a great idea this site was, a great way to preserve the memories of Jim. I had the pleasure and the honour to be coached by Jim Wallis in 2003/2004, the last crew he coached before his retirement.
We all adored and looked up to him. He knew everything about everything and we hung on his every word, not only when he was coaching us but when he was telling a story-he was an excellent story-teller and all the tales he had to tell were his own from his own life- a sign of a person who has truly lived.
I remember one evening in Hartigan’s when Jim joined the crew for a drink. Some of the girls had invited their boyfriends along and I recall vividly how Jim’s approval was sought when meeting them!
Jim loved music and I’ll never forget driving back from Lagan that year singing excerpts from “My Fair Lady” and listening to Frank Sinatra.
Jimmy Wallis was a great friend and I feel that no amount of words I could write will properly do him justice.
My heart goes out to Pat and the family, especially this Christmas, know that funny lively Jim is missed by all.
Deirdre