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WELL loved Fordingbridge greengrocer Leslie Phillis died earlier this month leaving many with fond memories of by-gone days in the town.

Mr Phillis died on August 2, leaving his wife Mollie, brother Frederick, daughters Susan and Geraldine, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Mr Phillis and his wife ran two greengrocer shops in Fordingbridge since the 1950s - one in Salisbury Street and one in High Street.

Their daughters used to work in the shops during the school holidays and funeral director Ian Newman worked there on Saturdays as a teenager.

Mr Newman said: "He was a lovely man and he always had time for everybody - a really old fashioned shopkeeper.

"He would listen to people's joys and sorrows and we would all go away feeling better for being in Leslie's shop."

Their shops were the hubs of the community where many would stop and chat.

Daughter Susan Reittinger said: "There was a post office across the road and the postmen used to come over and have a cup of tea after their rounds."

But Mr Phillis was not always a greengrocer.

He was born in 1920 in Dummer, near Basingstoke, and served in the Second World War.

He was captured as a prisoner of war in Germany and did not see his daughter Susan until she was two years old.

While a prisoner he caught tuberculosis, but the condition was not detected until he was demobbed and training to be a carpenter.

He had to spend 18 months in a sanatorium in Southampton and then was not allowed to sleep in the same house as his children for 12 months.

During that time he learned to knit and did all the knitting and sewing for the family.

"He had tremendous patience with people," said Mr Newman.

Leslie decided to become a greengrocer when an opportunity arose to take over two vacant shops in Fordingbridge.

However, when he retired as a greengrocer he returned to carpentry, working for a short time at building firm Shearings.

"He could do anything - he rewired the house where my mother lives, did the plumbing, built cupboards and he did things for others too," said Susan.

"He had a big heart, he was quite a joker, but he liked helping people."

Fordingbridge town councillor Malcolm Adams, who has lived in Fordingbridge since 1939, said he knew Mr Phillis and his wife well.

"He was always very friendly. He was a very charming and friendly person."

Joyce Adams, who taught his daughters, Geraldine and Susan, added: "He was lovely, he was always so friendly and so kind, both he and his wife."

When he wasn't working, Mr Phillis liked nothing better than to care for his garden.

Susan said: "He loved his garden, he loved his flowers and used to sit at the kitchen window and look down the garden.

"He was always busy - busy in the garden, busy in the house or busy helping someone."

9:07am Thursday 14th August 2008

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