Peter Henry Hoare 92nd
31st
July 1943 - 22nd October 2013
Pete was born in
Gillingham, Kent, the son of a Navy CPO Artificer.
He joined
the 92nd RAF Apprentices on 22nd May 1959 aged 15. Though
young, he qualified for training in the coveted ground radar class and passed
out three years later with accelerated promotion to corporal.
His
first posting was Syerston, before serving at La Buan Island, Borneo, for a
year. Posted to RAF Patrington in early 1967 to install a TACAN Beacon, he met
his life partner Louise and they were married in early 1968. Pete was sent to
Locking on a course and then to RAF West Drayton where he helped to build the
new Air Traffic Control System.
At
West Drayton their son Christopher was born in 1968 and while Pete was on a
Bloodhound course at RAE Newton, their daughter Victoria was born before he was
moved on to RAF Bruggen in Germany. It became a family joke that whenever Louise
announced she was pregnant Pete would be sent on a 9 month course! Sadly their
daughter was diagnosed with cancer in 1976 and died within six months.
Pete was accepted on an OCTU
course and was commissioned as a Flying Officer in November 1978 and posted
back to West Drayton. In 1982 he was posted to MATO, RAF Uxbridge as a Flight Lieutenant.
Pete
decide to leave the RAF in 1983 and, after working three years notice, he
retired in 1986. Pete and Louise bought a house in Denham and Pete got a job as
Marketing Manager with STC, selling communications equipment to the armed
forces.
He
was very successful at STC (later Nortel) and sold systems to the Navy for the
new frigate fleet, the submarines being built at Barrow; to the RAF for TCW and
to the Canadian and Dutch Air Forces.
Pete
began to think of retiring and bought a piece of land in a little village just
outside Limassol, Cyprus, in 1992. Nortel kept asking him to do just one more
job but in 1998 Pete was determined to retire as he would be 55 and entitled to
his RAF pension. Nortel made him redundant (as they had been promising to do) so
they sold their house and went to live in Cyprus.
Life
was good in Cyrus but unfortunately in late 2005 Pete was diagnosed with cancer.
He had a major operation and 6 weeks of radiotherapy in England, before going
back to Cyprus. He came back to the UK for checkups, and the 92nd and RAFLAA reunions,
which he loved.
In 2011 Pete and
Louise decided it was probably best if they came back to the UK. Pete went to
see his consultant as he had been experiencing problems and he was told the
cancer had returned. He had a huge operation that lasted 12 hours which left
him with problems swallowing and having to feed through a peg tube.
He did well until July 2013,
when he started to become very unwell. On the 19th October he was taken into
Treliske Hospital Intensive Care Unit where he died on 22nd October. Louise and
Christopher were with him at the end.
Pete
had many interests including building his own loudspeakers and driving a steam
train. He has flown a plane and done some motorbike and sidecar motor cross. A friend
in Cyprus was an art teacher and she taught Pete to draw and paint. He proved
to be a very talented water colourist..
Pete
was a good man, husband and father. We are all the poorer for his passing and I
am proud to have called him my friend.
Chris
Tett