Good Bye to a Symi Visitor

[Adriana]

We have just received the following obituary from Richard Mason:

Les Templeman died on March 27th, aged 68, after a long fight against pancreatic cancer. He and his wife Margaret had been visiting Symi for at least 25 years, and recently they'd been joined by his son John and daughter-in-law Heidi, who fell in love with Symi at first sight.

Les was a man of Sussex. After a short spell in the navy, he joined the police and rose to the rank of Detective Inspector in the Drugs Squad. After retiring from the police at 50, he was in charge of security at places like Arundel Castle as well as devoting a lot of his time to his local golf club.

Les and Margaret nearly always stayed at the Hotel Chorio, where they were very much part of 'the family'. He was a larger than life character of boundless energy, enormous generosity and great kindness. His stints as 'barman' when we celebrated Christina's birthday on July 5th will never be forgotten by any of us who were lucky enough to be there, nor will we forget the evening in 2004 when Greece won 'the cup', and he and I persuaded a dubious couple to stay on the grounds that it didn't matter if you couldn't see the sea from the hotel. They reckoned, wrongly, that we must have been paid!!

Apart from the hotel, Les's particular friends on the island were Nikos and Kostas of Symi Tours, Theo, whom he always said he watched grow up, and Yannis of Poseidon and his family.

Les was yet another of a host of people who fell under the spell of Symi, and I for one will miss him when I return in June. My first action when I arrive will be to order a Mythos in his memory. Those who knew him will know why.

Richard Mason