Steve’s memory will live on in jewellery

Steve Walker’s widow Julie decided to have his ashes turned into a gem stone set into a ring.

And on Sunday Julie took Steve back to the Brooklands Working Men’s Club, wearing the ring which has his ashes as the centrepiece.

Julie, who lives in Rosston Road, said she got the idea when arranging her husband’s funeral.

“When I went into the funeral directors they asked me whether I wanted him to be buried or cremated,” she said.

“When I said that he was being cremated, they asked me if I knew that I could have his ashes turned into a piece of jewellery.”

After a suggestion from a family member, 58-year-old Julie contacted Sentimental Connections in Nottingham and they offered to make the ring for free.

“Steve was such a well-known and popular character in Maltby,” continued Julie.

“After he was diagnosed with throat cancer he was determined not to let the disease stop him enjoying life, and he was a regular at Maltby’s Brooklands Club and the miner’s welfare. He did his best not to give into it.”

“You could always hear Steve before you saw him. He would play the songs he loved at full blast as he drove to the club. He was famous for wearing shorts - even when it was snowing.”

The retired groundworker was given a colourful send-off by hundreds of his friends and family, who all wore brightly coloured clothes to his funeral.

Steve’s return to his favourite watering hole followed a memorial service at St Bartholomew’s Church in the town.

“It was lovely. His family and friends got together for a small service and the grandchildren were able to light candles for him. Then we went down to the club for a drink,” Julie continued.

“Everyone thinks the ring is a brilliant idea. One lady has called the shop and she wants them to do the same with her pets’ ashes.”

Steve left behind two children Jamie and Kelly and three grandchildren, Megan, 11, Abbie, six and Nieve, four. And what would he think about being turned into a ring?

“He would have thought that it was a great idea,” added Julie. “We were always together no matter what we were doing, and it’s the same now.”

Nick Cranham, managing director of Sentimental Connections said they were delighted to make the ring for a “larger than life character”.

He added: “Our patented process involves setting a portion of cremated ash in a clear, hard polymer which creates the centrepiece of a variety of items of jewellery.”

“They are proving increasingly popular with people who want a very special and personal memorial to their departed loved one.”