Loving tributes paid to well-known and much-loved Chesterfield pub landlord
Richard William Younger, 56, a former landlord at The Royal Oak in Brampton and several other pubs, passed away at Ashgate Hospicecare on April 7.
The dad-of-three was born in Chesterfield and his hobbies included performing magic tricks, horse racing, playing pool and music.
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Hide AdAs well as running pubs, he spent eight years in Spain working on two radio stations.
Richard adored all of his family, including his children Luke, 28, Alicia, 25, and Jessica, 33, and grandchildren Harper, two and Roman, seven.
His family said: "Dad used to love to make people laugh and to make people stay in the pub longer, so he would come up with ideas like learning magic to do over the bar to keep the punters happy.
"He was funny and always had a story. He never missed an opportunity to put on his prized kilt and sporran.
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Hide Ad"He was also kind and caring and would say that in the scheme of things he`d had a good life."
Richard grew up in Brimington with his sister Lynette and while he was at school worked as a butcher`s runner for Derek Stanley.
When he was 16 he began work as a trainee mechanic while also running a disco called The Wanderers with friends Sam and Steve Batty. They had a large van and when Richard was made redundant he began to use the van during the day to make deliveries for the DIY shop, Do It All.
After a spell as a machinist at Sheepbridge Stokes, Richard met Mandy, who he would go on to marry, and together they decided to go into the licensed trade. It led to them running and later buying The Royal Oak at Brampton.
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Hide AdTheir lives took different directions and Richard moved on to run The Coach House at Pilsley and then The Woodside at Ashgate.
After a year he moved to Moraira in Spain to run a bar called Tranquilos and later ran two radio stations, Pirate FM and Smile FM.
But eventually Richard came back to Chesterfield to run The Badger at Brockwell and The Sun inn in Chesterfield town centre where he created the very popular competition – Chesterfield`s Got Talent - won by guitarist Liam Walker, who has since appeared on ITV's The Voice.
Richard moved to The Ark Tavern in Brimington which he ran with his daughter Alicia before going to work at a radio station called S41 which he had to leave because of ill health.
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Hide AdHe learned magic tricks that he collected and practised to perform for the customers at his pubs and he always carried a deck of cards.
He was an talented pool player which he played with his customers and his interest in horse racing led to two syndicates being formed, one at The Royal Oak and one at The Badger with days out at the races enjoying their successes.
Richard's son, Luke, said: "I loved dad's humour and the way he used to wind me up. Playing pool together was the thing we had in common and kept us really close but every time that dad beat me, he would wave his pool queue around like a lightsaber and say 'Luke, I am your father'. It would wind me up every time!"
His children will be honouring his name and raising money for Ashgate Hospice in his name in future years.
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Hide AdRichard's funeral will take place on April 26 at Chesterfield Crematorium at 2.50pm.
Funeral Directors, Harold Lilleker & Sons Ltd, of Chesterfield, said there will be a horse drawn carriage bearing the coffin which will be engraved with 'The Landlord'.