19-Apr-2023

Joe Cattini's passing: reflections on a beloved father

Reflections from Joe Cattini’s daughters Fran Bradshaw and Marian Farrow, on the passing of their beloved father:

Our Dad had a wonderful life. Having survived the Second World War he was determined to make every day count. He had a wonderful sense of humour and a cheeky smile right through to his final days.

After the 70th Anniversary of D-Day, he joined organised trips to Normandy – first with D-Day Revisited and latterly with The Spirit of Normandy Trust and made lots of friends. During these trips he became passionate about having a British Memorial built in Normandy. The British Normandy Memorial now constructed sits in Ver-sur-Mer, above Gold Beach where he landed.

Dad also revisited Eindhoven which he liberated as part of the Market Garden campaign. During these trips, he spoke of his experiences with school children. He felt it was very important that future generations learn the lessons from the past. To this end, he has asked that donations at his funeral should go to the Normandy Memorial Trust to help fund the second ambitious phase of the project – an Education and Visitor Centre.

We thank him for the wonderful life he gave us, his children, his grandchildren and his great grandchildren.