My father, Andrew Veal, who has died aged 72, had careers in banking and prison rehabilitation, but his true passion was his voluntary work as a special constable in Suffolk (1978-2003). He achieved the rank of special inspector, became involved in the recruitment and retention of volunteers and also organised training days.
Born in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, Andrew was the only son of Kitty (nee Burbidge) and Ray Veal, a shipping manager. After the family moved to Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, he went to King Edward VI grammar school in the town.
Andrew’s first job was as a trainee chartered surveyor at Parkyns estate agents, which he joined in 1972. There he met Suzanne Woricker and they married in 1976. He then moved on to Lacy Scott and Knight estate agents, also in Bury St Edmunds, before joining NatWest, where he would work for more than two decades (1975-2000), initially as a bank clerk but rising to be an assistant manager with oversight of its Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill branches.
He loved his time there, and it was while with NatWest that he began his parallel duties as a special constable. But in 2000 he decided on a career change and joined the Department for Work and Pensions as a disability employment and prisons adviser, supporting inmates through rehabilitation and helping them to find employment after release.
My father was always prudent with money, and it was this prudence that led to one of my happiest memories. While my peers unwrapped their plastic Ghostbusters fire stations one Christmas, I received a hand-crafted wooden firehouse – the result of many hours my father had spent quietly labouring away in the shed. It is now loved by my four-year-old son.
He was also generous to a fault with his time. He donated more than 75 pints of blood during his lifetime and was disappointed that, for health reasons, he was unable to make it to 100.
A few years after retiring in 2012 my parents moved to the small village of Stanningfield, where he settled happily into rural life, enjoying gardening and photography.
He is survived by Suzanne, their two children, Nicola and me, and four grandchildren, Zen, Elle, Sam and Jonah.
