In the Town Hall stain glass window with Henry VIII, Sir Thomas Dowcra stands on the right and Jack as a keen supporter of the Order of St Johns wanted to play the part.
Dover Express Report 20.5.2004
JACK Hewitt, one of the town's most enduring characters, passed away last Friday with the parting words: "Goodbye England, goodbye friends, goodbye Dover."
Jack, 92, had been stricken by throat cancer for some time and died at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.
He was due to be moved into a hospice when he slipped away;
The Dovorian will be best remembered for his devotion to the St John Ambulance movement and an association with Scouting lasting more than four decades.
His niece Lois Chamberlain said: "He was saying he wanted to go and it was like he was saying his farewells. "Even towards the end he didn't want to be moved to a privateroom, he wanted to stay on the ward so he could see what was going on and be with other people,'.'
Jack, of Clarendon Street, was renowned for his cheery salutation 'greetings', which was widely heard when he was out in the town centre or collecting for charity:It was even incorporated into the title of his biography named Greetings, Dover, which was written by local author Derek Leach. The book recorded how his illness began in the final pages.
Mr Leach, of River, said:"Even when he was in his 90s he was still out and about raising money in all sorts of imaginative ways. "You would always see him at civic functions with his medals and his MBE.."
Town Centre Manager Mike Webb remembered how his songs brought the house down at the annual talent show. He said: "He was unique, even in his 92nd year he'd come into see us once a week. He was always doing something and was passionate about the town."
Jack's infectious laugh, which was fondly commented on by everyone who remembered him, was recalled as 'sounding like a strange mechanical device'.
It was even noted by royalty; as both Princess Diana, and the Queen MotherJACK HEWITT received his well-deserved MBE in 1996 for his lifetime work with the Scouting movement, which he was a member for 40 years, and his devotion to the St John Ambulance which he served for 60 years. The son of a Dover baker, whose bakehouse in Crafford Street and Dour Street gave Hewitt Road its name, he got to know the town as he cycled all over it as an errand boy:
It served him well when he carried out first aid duties in Dover during the early days of World War Two. After a furious bombardment hit Townwall Passage, he was among those who tun-
nelled into debris to rescue a baby girl who was found in the arms of her dead mother. In 1980, as a result of an artic1e I wrote in the Dover Express. I had the privilege of reuniting Jack with the girl who was by then Mrs Jean
Coleman (nee Amos).
Jack volunteered for the Royal Air Fotce and served from February 1941 to 1946, much of the time in India. For nearly 30 years, Jack was
employed by the County Ambulance Service, which enabled him to combine hispaid duties with his voluntarywork with St John Ambulance.
On his retirement Jack, immaculate in his St John uniform, was always on parade at
any civic or town event with his little black bag ready to help anyone who was taken ill.
He was also a real adventurer, travelling to Russia, Canada, the Holy Land, North
Africa, Australia, Romania, Kenya and China.
To celebrate the millennium, even though he was in his late 8Os, he went on an expedition to Antarctica, which meant had managed to visit
all seven continents.
His extraordinary and full life is recorded in the book Greetings, Dover by his biographer Derek Leach.
Mr Leach recalled: "Jack was a lifetime bachelor. But during the war, serving in the
RAF, he was stationed for a time in the Isle of Man where he met, and fell in love, with a
young lady,
"They talked of marriage but Jack went off to India and while he was overseas the young lady married a naval officer.
"When Jack tried to make contact with her again in the 60s, he discovered she had died.
He always carried her picture in his wallet and said no other girl would do for him. So he put
his energies into voluntary work"
