Roy Gelling, the Captain of the Parish of Malew, has been described as ‘an incredible family man’ following his death last week.

The keen farmer and snooker player died on Wednesday, November 8 at the age of 93.

Roy had been Captain of Malew Parish since 1996, was the president of the Isle of Man Billiards and Snooker Association (IoMBSA) and was a farmer at Billown Farm for more than 70 years.

Born at Knock-y-Loughan in Santon, Roy lived there until he was 16 and during the entirety of the Second World War.

As a young teenager, he worked alongside the internees from the Howstrake Camp (a camp for trainee seafarers during the war) who he managed to communicate with despite a language barrier.

Also during the war, whilst out thinning turnips with a farm labourer, Roy witnessed the crash of a Vickers Wellington bomber aircraft – often describing how the sight of ‘bloodied and wounded walking pilots’ stayed with him for the rest of his life.

His time at Knock-y-Loughan also saw the introduction of tractors, with the farm taking delivery of a grey Ford Ferguson tractor. He reported that people came from far and wide to watch him (at 13 years old) working on the new machine.

It was at the age of 13 when Roy said his final goodbye to his mother. She gave him a bar of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk before going to give birth – but she was never to come home.

He moved to Billown Farm in 1946, a mixed farm which had a small herd of dairy cows as well as a few acres of vegetable and potato patches. Roy supplied them to various families, shops and hotels in the south of the island, with his main customer being Castletown Golf Links Hotel.

Roy was a member of the Southern Young Farmers Club and competed in every possible competition, including stock judging, ploughing and public speaking. Roy was part of a team that won the Young Farmers stock judging competition at the Highland Show, as well as winning many awards for ploughing.

It was through Young Farmers that Roy met his wife Doreen. The pair were married in 1953 after he proposed to her outside a jewellery shop in Ramsey on a Saturday ‘when there was no football on’.

On the day after their wedding, Doreen accompanied him to a ploughing match at Cronk-y-Voddy.

They went on to have four daughters – Barbara, Gillian, Diane and Pauline. Doreen passed away in September 2001, while his daughter Pauline also died not long afterwards in January 2002. Roy’s family have praised how he dealt with these bereavements, as ‘he tried to carry on the best he could’.

Roy was appointed Captain of the Parish of Malew in 1996 in recognition of his service to the commissioners and the community in the south of the island.

He represented Malew on Tynwald Day, during official receptions at Government House and many community events he was invited to.

As Ronaldsway Airport is within the parish of Malew, Roy had the honour of welcoming many members of the Royal family to the island.

Roy welcomed the late Queen Elizabeth II, the late Duke of Edinburgh, King Charles (when he was Prince of Wales), Prince Edward and Princess Anne who, on her last visit, remarked that she had met him several times previously.

Roy’s daughter Gillian said: ‘Roy meant so much to so many people in all walks of life.

‘His passing leaves a huge gap in the lives of all those that knew him.’

Jason Moorhouse, the MHK for Arbory, Rushen and Malew, said: ‘Roy will be remembered for his warm heart, his wonderful smile and those brief comments which he used with such effect.

‘Whenever Roy spoke to you, he made you feel special and that is a real talent.

‘He was an incredible family man who will have left so many wonderful memories. Thank you.’