Frank David Billingsley was born on 13th March 1950, one of eight children born to Frank and Kath Billingsley of Cookley village.

Though named after his father, Frank, he was always called David.

David was, according to his mother, a feisty child. When visiting family in Edinburgh, he had to go into hospital after a bang to his head by a swing, and he let them know quite loudly, that there was no way he was staying in hospital, such that the Scottish nurses called him the little ‘ Sasanach!’

David grew up in Cookley with sisters Pat and Joan, and brothers John, Peter, Carl, Lawrence and Edwin, and after leaving school at 16, he started work at the Cookley firm Steel Stampings as an apprentice engineer. He was sharp witted, interested in people and quickly realised that he wanted a career in Personnel Management studying at night school to become qualified.

In 1979, It was in his role as Health and Safety manager, that one day a young woman civil servant came to interview him about an Industrial Accident at Steel Stampings and after the 40 min interview, he told a colleague afterwards "I’m going to marry that woman"

... and so Yvonne and David married in August 1980 and their marriage was blessed with two beautiful sons, James in October 1981 and Alex in May 1986.

David was now focused on reaching senior management and took pride in being able to provide well for his family. He moved to a role as Personnel Manager in Heenan Drives at Worcester, and then in 1984 to Hozelock Garden Tools. His colleague Chris Holden, who is with us today, has left us a wonderful testimony, describing David as having put the Human into Human Resources. David stayed with Hozelock until 2000 when his Parkinsons forced him into early retirement

In his early years David loved Dancing! Spurred on by John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, he went to dancing lessons at Frank Freeman’s in Kidderminster and was later to display his cool moves, dancing with Yvonne at the Stone Manor Hotel discos, and later years at Christmas parties with friends at the Kings Court Hotel near their Coughton home.

David also loved Dogs and enjoyed walking with them around local fields. They added to the fun and affection of his family life.
And David loved driving. From his first gold Ford Capri Ghia, and his company cars, to his current Freelander 4x4. He loved watching cars too...especially Formula 1 racing and took James and Alex with him to the Silverstone racetrack.

Sadly as his Parkinsons progressed, he lost the joy of being able to do his favourite things...he could no longer walk the dog, or drive a car...and he said to Yvonne that what he missed most was not being able to dance.

He filled those gaps by becoming involved with Alcester Rugby Club based in Kings Coughton, joining the Committee as Treasurer. He enjoyed being part of the local community, and the camaraderie of the Rugby Club. Yvonne and David had moved to Kings Coughton in 1993 and David loved his home there.

As his mobility deteriorated, Davids home became the centre of his world, and he was thankful that in earlier years he had travelled with Yvonne, James and Alex to see other countries - Greece, Cyprus, France, Spain, Italy and the Caribbean.

On Tuesday 6th August 2019, David sadly passed away.