Dean Eldridge’s friends and family paid tribute to him yesterday in a moving ceremony held outdoors, close to one of Deano’s favourite pubs in the south of England and a place he had flown from many times.
Standing in front of Deano’s second ‘home’ – his large white van which he lived in when instructing or travelling to competitions in Europe – his brother Lee lead about 200 people in the hour-long ceremony, which started at 3pm.
Family members, including Dean’s four brothers and numerous nephews and nieces, spoke about their memories of Dean, as did some of Deano’s oldest friends. Sylvestre Campe, the Brazilian TV producer Deano had worked with so closely for the last three years, was unable to attend but his daughter had travelled from Rio de Janeiro to represent him and to read his words.
Many of those attending had travelled from across the world especially for the day, with friends and pilots coming from the USA, Dubai and many countries in Europe.
The ceremony heard of Deano as a child, laughing in science class at school; of his role as an “amazing uncle” constantly on the move but always with unlimited time for family; as a brother; as an old friend; as a scuba diver; motorbike enthusiast; and of course as a paramotor pilot, instructor and camerman. The mood was reflective and sombre, but there was also a lot of joy and laughter as each speaker shared their stories.
The ceremony closed with three minutes of silent reflection, after which Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now played out on the sound system. “Don’t stop me now, I’m having such a good time, I’m having a ball.” It was, Lee Eldridge had revealed earlier, Deano’s ‘funeral song’ – the one he had picked when they had discussed it together one evening only last year.
After the ceremony closed the music continued and people picnicked in the field, enjoying the sunshine and locally-made beers on tap from the pub nearby, the Hampshire Bowman. A corner of the field was set aside for reflection and featured a small shrine to Deano with sunflowers, seashells and a bottle of ‘Dino’s’ white wine as well as a book of remembrance to sign.
Later in the evening children played frisbee, flew kites and rode unicycles barefoot as half a dozen paramotor pilots took to the air to fly. One climbed high above the site before spiralling down, smoke trailing behind.
As the sun set those who had travelled for the day left to return home, while others who had come from further afield moved into the pub. Many were camping nearby, ensuring ‘Deanofest’, as it was nicknamed during the day, carried on late into the night.
Cross Country is a reader-supported international publication and is available through subscription only. We publish 10 issues a year in print and digital. Subscribe to Cross Country.
