Thank you to everyone in attendance today, paying your respects to my father during these awful times.

The greatest tribute I can give my Dad is to illuminate his magnificent life through this eulogy. From one only son, to another.

Robert Franklyn Viles was born in Handsworth on 17th May 1947 to Cecil & Winnie Viles. 

Spending much of his earlier years in Great Barr, he moved to Marchmount Rd in Sutton Coldfield at the age of 9. A town he would call home for the vast majority of his life.

Dad attended Waverley Grammar School in Small Heath between 1958 and 1965. His school’s proximity to one notable football ground led to a lifelong love of Birmingham City Football Club. A genetic disorder to which I have also been inflicted.

On a spring Saturday afternoon in 1959, it was the vision of a tall and slim young man walking down Marchmount Road, adorned in a long blue & white scarf - rattle in hand - which drew new kid on the block Dave Brown into his first conversation with my Dad. Soon to join him on the terraces at St.Andrew’s, ”Bob” & Dave were lifelong best friends, creating many happy memories, along with Martyn Davies & Josh Hubble.

As a son of a musician, Dad often went with his father to live performances and recordings studios. He regularly recounted one such trip to Torquay in summer 1963. When waiting for my grandfather to finish playing a radio set, he suddenly came face-to-face with a quartet of smart, young, mop headed individuals, up next in the studio. I am of course referring to... The Beatles.

Another prominent moment in Dad’s life was his attendance at the 1966 World Cup Final at Wembley. To this day, he’s still the only person one hundred percent convinced that the ball crossed the line. Albeit, he argued, it crossed in mid-air - and not on the floor - as the ball’s trajectory was warped due to the sheer amount of backspin on Geoff Hurst’s shot.

Dad’s teenage obsession was with pyrotechnics - or just plain “blowing stuff up”. Dave may have been 3 years older but not 3 years more responsible. He helped my Dad build a three stage rocket & launch it in the fields at the back of Marchmount. Far from escaping the atmosphere, it just about escaped the field into someone’s garden in a large plume of smoke.

By all accounts, in his school years, Dad’s love of such “practical chemistry” and in particular the science of brewing & imbibing beer took precedence over academia. However, at the age of 19, serious aspirations of a career as an industrial chemist led to six hard years of education at Birmingham Polytechnic & then the University of Wolverhampton. Much of his studies were undertaken at night, whilst he worked at Bakelite in Tyseley during the day. 

His efforts were repaid in 1972. He not only attained his degree, but also achieved the honourable status of member of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Over his career he would go on to the esteemed level of Chartered Chemist.

Dad’s sharp intellect also made him a great chess player. He was captain of work chess teams and was proud to have played against the Russian Chess Grandmaster and World Champion Anatoly Karpov. Unfortunately, he never did disclose who won.

It was at the age of just 30 that he joined the Foseco Group and was soon assigned to Fosroc, the company he would work for for the rest of his career. Initially developing & marketing new mining products, Dad spent much of his time down pits throughout the country, many located in Wales and the North. As such he developed a fantastic ear for regional accents and was never shy at imitating locals whenever he met them.

Dad & Mum were first introduced in 1986 by Dave’s wife Jean. She worked with my mother at Yenton Primary School and encouraged her to join the Savoy Operatic Society, of which my father was a member. For the rest of his life, Dad always took great pleasure at performing long sections of Gilbert & Sullivan at any random given moment in a conversation.

Despite this oddly ebullient character trait, following a short courtship, Marion Beddows and Robert Viles were married in 1987 at Curdworth Church & became residents of the village.

I arrived shortly after on Good Friday in 1990. Dad always recounted the moment he first held me. He looked at me, with my inquisitive eyes wide open and saw my personality in an instant. “I know you”, he said. And what a start in life he & mum afforded me.

Much of my earlier years & memories were with Mum, due to Dad’s jet-set business lifestyle. Through his work he saw most of the world: Europe, America, the Middle East, India, China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, South Africa to name just a few. From the Pyramids of Giza, to the Taj Mahal, to the Great Wall of China, to the Sydney Opera House - he experienced it all. Often brilliantly, but sometimes unfortunately, his attempts at local accents were not just limited to the UK.

Dad recounted one incident when his flight home was delayed until the following morning due to “technical problems”. Far too nebulous a reason for Dad’s liking, his now legendary response was, “well I’m technical, what’s the problem?”. That was Dad in a nutshell.

Though despite all his travelling, in my youth I have so many fond memories with Dad. We were always active at weekends. Family walks & bike rides all across the country. Picnics and pub lunches. Holidays across Europe & also a cherished trip to Florida, where we saw the launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery. That one did escape the atmosphere! 

We did so much together - not forgetting all the trips to football practice, tennis lessons & cross country events.

In 2007, Dad was diagnosed with kidney disease. It hindered him for the next ten years, but his determination never stopped him from being active.

It didn’t stop him from continuing the tradition of Sunday nights at the pub with Dave & Uncle Ray, discussing politics & current affairs - banging his fist on the table and gritting his teeth over issues he felt passionate about.

During those years, we also shared the elation of seeing Birmingham City finally win something at Wembley. A cherished memory to add to the near twenty years of celebrating goals together and - more often - commiserating each other on defeats at St. Andrew’s. We’d regularly wonder why we’d bothered to journey to Small Heath on a damp, cold, dark Tuesday night. It was all for one another.

Dad retired in 2013, but continued to work as a consultant. He enjoyed meeting the Fosroc guys for weekly pub lunches and always appreciated any time spent with ex-Fosrockers.

In 2017, with his renal function deteriorating, Mum gave Dad the gift of life by donating him her kidney. This miraculous act of kindness makes me so proud of the love shared by my parents.

Following the transplant, Dad rebuilt himself to the fit and healthy man he always was. 

Together, Mum & Dad bought a beautiful apartment in Spain. They loved spending time out there. He always had a smile on his face in Spain.

Their retirement together should have been so much longer than what they were afforded. 

My fiancée Hannah and I bought our first home in 2018. The love, support & shared enjoyment of our progress in renovating our property meant everything to us. 

Dad deserved to have seen it finished.

He also gave incredible support to Hannah and I in the organisation of our wedding, which had to be postponed in early April as the pandemic hit. He attended my stag do, but now won’t see us married. 

Dad so deserved to be there. 

Despite taking so many precautions, this awful virus has stolen so much from us.

But even in hospital, Dad had been entertaining the nurses with his Mick Jagger impersonation and telling tales of his trips around the world.

That’s the essence of the Robert “Bob” Viles that will be forever remembered.

—

On a personal note, there are no words powerful enough to describe my gratitude for everything Dad has done for me. 

I am who I am because of the extraordinary amount of love, effort & time Dad, along with Mum & Uncle Ray have invested in me, throughout my upbringing and into my adulthood. 

The most stable of upbringings in the most loving of environments.

Together, we have been a terrific team for thirty years. The four of us. 

Dad was the embodiment of the strong, smart & dependable patriarch of the family. The one we all looked toward for stability, help & guidance. 

We don’t just mourn the brilliant man, but we mourn the loss of the person who made us feel so grounded and so safe.

I’ll never come to terms with the circumstances of losing Dad before his time, in such a cruel way. However, I’ve pledged to turn my hurt & anger into relentless positive action. Doing the things that I know would make Dad proud. Even more proud of me than - I am reliably informed - he already was.

I stand here broken, having lost you, Dad. But when some of the dust settles, I will see myself as a very lucky man to have had such a fine example of a father, whose brilliance I will always seek to emulate.

I love you Dad. 

Thank you for everything Dad. 

We Keep Right On.