Obituary: John Le Tissier
JOHN was born in Guernsey on 11 June 1962 and was raised at Grandes Rocques.
He was the son of Raymond and Kitty Le Tissier and the brother of Lynn. He attended Castel, St Peter Port (for one year) and La Mare de Carteret schools before joining the RAF where he was in the Military Police.
After a couple of years John returned to Guernsey, taking up a position at Alliance. From there he worked for Window Design, Spectrum Interiors, the Globe newspaper, Premier Foods, Banks and Flouquet Estate Agents and then finally set up the company Alpha Estates.
John had many interests throughout his life, pulling in tug-of-war, air rifle shooting, competing in the Guernsey half-marathon, as well as doing the Itex and World Aid walks quite a few times. He also joined the Wayside Cheer euchre team.
His main passion, however, was playing pool and snooker in both the local and island leagues, as well as competing in the world championships, winning awards, trophies and accolades.
He became a fitness fanatic in the latter part of his life, getting up early to go to Les Rocquettes for a daily workout or swim, as well as walking and cycling with his wife Stephanie.
John also loved football and was a huge Leeds United fan. As a surprise, he arranged for his son, Matthew, who shared his love of Leeds United, as well as himself to go and see them play at home, which also incorporated a VIP tour of the grounds and meeting some of the club’s former players.
To him, that was an absolute dream.
When John’s daughter Vicky moved to Portsmouth to set up home with her partner, Lee, John would often go over and see her.
He was a devoted family man.
Although John liked music, he admitted he was stuck in the 70s. He would often raise an eyebrow whenever he was in Stephanie’s car as her taste in music was very eclectic and he would often say ‘this is just weird...’. But both John and Stephanie did share a love of one particular band and that was Jeff Lynn’s ELO, seeing him live on numerous occasions.
John also loved to travel. As well as family holidays, John loved cruises and both he and Stephanie were lucky enough to see many different countries together. The first ever cruise he took was for their honeymoon. That was when the bug bit. Thoughts of a world cruise were on the horizon, however due to John’s illness and then Covid, this is one dream that did not happen.
John was very easy going and also very kind and generous. He always put his family first. Nothing was too much for him. He was proud to be a Guernseyman and would do so much to support local causes and always wanted to give something back to the island.
He would go out of his way to help anyone, even strangers. He would help different types of charities, Age Concern and Cancer Research to name but two.
In 2018 he started to ‘womble’, going around to different parts of the island to pick up litter that had been discarded and to dispose of it properly. He continued to do this even while fighting advanced prostate cancer.
He was also generous, being so appalled by the news of rubbish being dumped at one of Guernsey’s nature reserves that he paid for it to be removed.
During the second Covid lockdown John volunteered with St John’s to help others, taking individuals to Beau Sejour for their Covid jabs, picking up hand sanitiser, shopping and delivering to those who had to isolate, even on days when he was really struggling.
He would also stand outside M&S at L’Islet, collecting for Cancer Research.
He would always say there are a lot of people who are far worse than him. That was John through and through – easy going, kind and generous, a larger-than-life character, the life and soul of the party who had a wicked sense of humour, who always had a story to tell, which was usually accompanied with a pint or a brandy at the Wayside Cheer Hotel.
He was a true gentleman and a friend to many.
He leaves behind his loving wife and soul mate Stephanie, his children Matthew and Vicky, to whom he was an amazing father. He was a fantastic, fun and loving brother of Lynn (Tosh) and a loving grandpa to Ollie.
John will be sorely missed by his family and his many friends and will leave a lasting hole in all their lives.
. John Le Tissier, born 11 June 1962, died 3 June 2021.
Obituaries welcome
The Guernsey Press is looking to run more tributes to islanders along these lines. We have asked the local funeral directors to assist us but families can also contact us directly. Email features@guernseypress.com to find out more.
