It is with enormous sadness and shock that we announce the passing of John Toft, one of our closest of Friends and Tradesman.
John suddenly passed away on Wednesday the 24th of April at home.
I felt that we needed to let people know about John and what an Amazing Man he was for all the people that didn't get the pleasure of meeting him.
We first got to know John from when we set up TradePlas back in 2009, he was one of our first customers back then and before long he seemed part of the furniture “literally” he had his own seat, well window sill. John, and Darren his eldest son who now works with us would come and have a cuppa “or 3″ and a chat before their jobs, this would happen whether they needed any stock or not.
Its funny thinking back as I cant remember John actually being a customer it just seemed that he had always been there, he just had that infectious air about him that you felt like you’d known him for years!
It soon became clear to us that John knew a lot about the building trade & was an immensely handy guy to have a round - he was on Carol Vorderman’s better homes you know - he never let us forget that one!
We soon started asking John if he could help us with certain jobs which needed someone with his expertise which were mainly roofing or tiling jobs or anything a little out of the ordinary. As I said there’s nothing John couldn’t do and do well with a bag of tools & a cuppa every half hour.
One of the jobs John & Darren did for us was on my house re tiling a bay window. It was a cold day in January & was one of the last jobs we had to do on our house after a raft of building works & various tradesman coming & going. As my Wife is at home with the children all day & had put up with all kinds of builders over the previous six months ruining carpets, making a mess & asking for a cuppa every 5 minutes I was a little hesitant to tell her yet more builders were coming tomorrow! I finally plucked up the courage to tell her & it went something like “Don’t forget John & Darren are coming tomorrow to do the bay” to which she replied “What bay? Who’s John & Darren? - “John Toft, I told you about him, don’t worry he’s different than the others, trust me!! – ** Rolls Eyes
So, 5pm the next day & I return home from work John & Darren have been & gone & all she can go on about is how good John is & how polite they both are I couldn't shut her up!! Here’s some of the things she said.
1. “He brought his own kettle, tea & milk & set up camp in the garage”
2. “He called me by my first name, not “Love, Chuck or sweetheart”
3. Here’s the big one “He de-iced my car for me, front & back windscreens before I left for the school run, not even you do that!!” - Cheers for that John I got some right grief for that!
That last comment about de icing the car just sums up the kind of man John was, come on, what Builder,Husband even would think to do that? John was always doing things like this he just couldn't help himself he really was a True Gent.
I think everyone that knew John will have a similar story to tell like this.
He really was the most Kindest, Salt Of The Earth, Big Hearted guy I had ever known & he would do anything to help you out, he will be sorely missed by all at The Window Company & TradePlas, morning brew times wont be the same without you.
Our heartfelt sympathies go to Lesley, Darren & Craig.
Wayne Shaw