Notes
The subtitles in bold are not to be read, just to guide structure Please say if anything doesnt sound quite right, anything that comes to mind is worth discussing
Write Up
Early Life
Philip James Paine (Phil) was born on the 18th May 1953 at Canterbury Hospital to Betty and Norman. His Dad, Norm, was so happy that he mowed into the lawn “it’s a boy” to mark the occasion.
The family lived in a pre-fab home on the New Dover Road in Canterbury, but when Phil was 3 they moved to a house on Whitehall Bridge Road near the Westgate Gardens. There he lived with his mum, dad, older sister Denise and younger brother Nigel.
Phil attended Holy Cross School before graduating to Frank Hooker High School.
At 16, he left school to pursue his City & Guilds in carpentry.
The Businessman
Phil borrowed £600 from the bank to purchase some tools and set off on his own into the world of business. His early jobs included work for Cluttons, building farm roads, and a grain store in Eastry — for which he got a commendation.
Having experienced first-hand the financial difficulties his family endured during difficult times, Phil vowed to himself that he would not experience that again, and set himself the goal of becoming a millionaire by the age of 30. He achieved that aim by the age of 31.
In successive years, Phil went on to build and run three residential care and clinical facilities: Highgate Nursing Home in Chestfield, Highview Nursing Home in Ash, and Highfield Medical Clinic in Bekesbourne. He also built three of the homes his family would go on to live in: a house on Maydowns Road in Chestfield, a mansion on Stuppington Lane, and Sunnyside, a beautiful house by the sea.
His remarkable entrepreneurial journey included running a hotel, developing industrial-scale farming infrastructure, and creating world-class sporting facilities — ambitious projects that showed his drive, and ability to turn ideas into something enduring.
The Action Man
Phil was never a man to sit still. Over the years he tried his hand at all sorts of pursuits — fishing, shooting, water-sports, skiing — always chasing the next challenge. But it was golf that stayed with him throughout his life. His cabinet at home tells the story better than words can, filled with trophies from the many competitions he won over the years.
Golf was never just a hobby for Phil, either. It became a place to build business contacts, and gave him reason to travel — combining the things he loved most: a challenge, good company, and always somewhere new to be.
Fittingly for a man always in motion, in the 1990s Philip earned his helicopter licence and bought his own helicopter. So ambitious was he that the original designs for his beachside home even included a helipad.
The Man - Family and Relationships
Above all of his achievements from carpenter to entrepreneur, from skis to helicopters there was, simply, Phil.
In 1976 he met Juliet, and they had three children: Christopher, Stephen and Jenny. In the years that followed, his family continued to grow. In 1992, together with Debbie, James was born. And subsequently, Tabatha and Lily, each from a different relationship.
Phil loved his family deeply, and his children were the most important thing to him. He cared that each of them received a good education and were properly prepared for the world ahead — and he was proud of each of them.
Phil had a somewhat ‘flirtatious nature’. An in house joke was that at his funeral the girls would be queuing outside the door waiting to pay their respects. If he were able to today, he would have been the first to welcome them through the door.
Phil was a loving, kind, sociable and gentle man. He was loved by so many. He had the ability to make you feel important and have purpose, but he also didn’t suffer fools gladly. He had many friends and enjoyed speaking freely about the joys of life and the many stories of adventures passed by. This is echoed by his popularity and close relationships he maintained for many years. To his children , wherever they went, everyone knew him. It was like walking with a celebrity.
In later years everybody also got to know Phil’s ‘size of a cow’ sized dog, Stan, who he loved dearly. When Phil was laid up in intensive care, Stephen, James, and James’ wife Annabelle trollied Stanley through the corridors of Kent and Canterbury hospital, turning heads along the way as people stopped to admire him — some even asking if they’d taken a wrong turn for the vets. They made their way to Phil’s bedside where they could be together one last time. It was to be their last goodbye and many tears were shed in that moment but with the belief that they would be reunited again.
We all loved Phil. The laughs, the tears, the highs, the lows.
Philip James Paine died on the 26th June in a way that he would have wanted, peacefully , surrounded by his 6 children
He will be sorely missed but the happiness he brought will live on in our hearts.
Structure
Early life: ~1 minute
Career and achievements: ~2 minutes
Hobbies and personality: ~1–2 minutes
Family and relationships: ~2 minutes
Closing reflections and farewell: ~1 minute