NEARLY 400 people have turned out to say goodbye to one of Chard and Ilminster’s most beloved residents.

Mike Jeffery was 74 when he passed away on May 22, and family and friends celebrated his life at the Minster on June 1.

Wendy, Mike’s wife of 51 years, said: “Mike was a people person, he loved entertaining and his holidays all over the world.

“I believe he owed his freedom of spirit to his possession of certitude about the great things in life, the power of kindness and sympathy, humour and uprightness.

“So, when I think of him, it will be as one whose character was a stronger thing than the force which killed him.

“His friend thought this sentiment summed Mike up, he said that ‘Mike was one of life’s nice guys’.

“Courteous, kind, humorous, modest, self effacing and thoughtful - whatever he did he took pride in a job well done. He truly loved life and most of all his family.”

Michael Jeffery was born to Kitty and Frank Jeffery on March 24, 1943, at Atherstone Farm.

He went to Whitelackington School and then Tommy Wades school in Ilminster, before going to board at Wellington.

At school he was an enthusiastic rugby player, a gymnast, member of the Combined Cadet Force, an accomplished bugler and in the school shooting team.

Mike left school in 1960 and went home to work on the farm with his father and brother. They kept pigs, sheep and Friesian herd, and Mike received a prize for his dairy costings from animal goods manufacturer BOCM.

Mike and Wendy were married in 1966 before they took over the tenancy at Kails Farm in Whitelackington, where they continued to live. They have two children, Ian and Suzy, and five grandchildren; Toby, Ryan, Alisha, Olivia and Charley.

Fifteen years ago Mike moved to work in painting and decorating, before he stopped three years ago after suffering from Farmer’s Lung, an allergic reaction caused by breathing in mouldy hay.

He was in Ilminster Young Farmers and played hockey for Chard.

He captained Chard Rugby Club’s first XV, and was also a member of the successful side the club had in the 1970s.

He also helped build the original club house in the 1960s, and retired in the 1980s when he became a vice president and also a club trustee.

Mike was a member of Ilminster Rifle Club and was a Somerset County shot, winning the County silver medal twice. He was a bee keeper for more than 20 years, and a member of Nyanza Lodge, serving as provincial grand sword bearer and almoner for several years.

More than £1,500 has so far been raised for the Dorset and Somerset air ambulance by funeral directors AJ Wakeley’s The cause is near to Mike and Wendy’s hearts after the air ambulance saved the life of their son Ian, who was run over by a forage harvester.