Keith Alexander

Macclesfield Town football manager and father of two, Keith Alexander died at the age of 53 on March 2nd 2010.  

Born in Nottingham, he played for Lincoln City and Grimsby Town, with around 150 appearances. Better known as a football manager, he had periods in charge at Lincoln City, Peterborough United and Macclesfield Town.  Keith Alexander was an international player, turning out for St Lucia three times in 1990. He passed away after arriving home from Macclesfield's League Two match at Notts County after attending hospital earlier that day.

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Maggie Jones (Best known as Blanche Hunt from Coronation Street)

Actress Maggie Jones died peacefully in her sleep on 2nd December 2009 at the age of 75. Born in London on 21 June, 1934, she married John Stansfield in 1971 and was widowed in 1999.

Maggie Jones made her first acting appearances in West End stage productions. Her first television role was in 1961 in the soap, Coronation Street, in which she played a police woman. She had several small roles on the soap over the following decade. She played the character of Blanche since 1974 and had also had parts in several other notable British dramas. She became a Coronation Street regular from 1999 and was one of the soap’s most popular Weatherfield residents.

Her credits include co-starring with Clive Swift in the 1980 sitcom The Nesbitts Are Coming and a part in The Barchester Chronicles mini-series (1982) with Donald Pleasence. She had also appeared in Heartbeat, Dalziel and Pascoe and Peak Practice.

In 2005 and 2008 Maggie Jones received a British Soap Award for 'Best Comedy Performance'.

She will be missed by her many Coronation Street fans. The street will never be quite the same again.

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Raymond Woollon (Ray to his friends and neighbours)

The life of a good man

Ray was born on August 17th 1933 and passed away on 25th February 2010 at his home in Knowle in Bristol, where he lived for many years. His funeral took place on March 15 at Canford Cemetery and was attended by his friends and family.

He is survived by his brother Clifford and his sister Margaret.

Ray attended Christ Church primary in Clifton, and the former Greenway Secondary School, in Wells Road.  After school he became a costing clerk.  He was employed by Colston Electrical, Counterslip and later a double glazing business. He also served two years in the Army Pay Corps during his National Service.

Ray was a bachelor who loved cricket.  He previously bowled for Redcliffe and Southville Wayfarers in Bristol and was considered as a possible county player during the 1960s.

Ray’s family moved to Knowle after the second world war. He was known by his neighbours as a quiet, kind and unassuming man who put himself out for others when the need arose.  He never looked for praise of thanks but helped others quietly and willingly.  

Christina, a former neighbour who attended his funeral said “Ray was always willing to help in a crisis.  He was a kind neighbour, offering a lift in his car to hospital or to take the children to school“.

His brother Clifford said of him “A kind hearted Brother, always ready to help. Will be greatly missed”.

His sister, Margaret said: "He was a very kind person who never put himself first. He never boasted about what he had done for other people."

Ray was a good neighbour and was liked and well respected by those fortunate enough to know him.  

Raymond Woollon is a loss to the community and will be missed.

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Kathryn Grayson

Born Zelma Kathryn Elisabeth Hedrick on 9 February, 1922, Kathryn Grayson passed away in her home in Los Angeles on 17th February 2010 at the age of 88. She was twice married with a daughter, two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

She took singing lessons as a child and aspired to become an opera star. At 15 she was signed by Red Seal, the classical arm of RCA Victor Records. When MGM execs saw and heard her they asked her to do her singing in films. Kathryn Grayson, was a beautiful and wonderful soprano who is remembered for her appearances in such films as Showboat and Kiss Me Kate during the 1940s and 1950s.She made her film debut in the title role in Andy Hardy’s Private Secretary (1941), opposite Mickey Rooney. She made 20 films over 15 years, which included roles with Mario Lanza, Howard Keel, Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra.She finally realised her ambition to sing opera and starred in stage productions of The Merry Widow, Rosalinda and Naughty Marietta. She and Howard Keel toured extensively in Man of La Mancha and appeared together in Las Vegas.She also starred on Broadway in 1962, replacing Julie Andrews in Camelot playing Queen Guinevere.

Kathryn Grayson’s career included television roles and she was nominated for an Emmy in 1956 for her role in an episode of General Electric Theater. Her final screen appearance in 1989 was in an episode of the popular Murder, She Wrote.