Praise for kind Preesall couple who befriended lonely old Knott End man with no family who died alone

Ken Thompson, who lived in Knott End on Sea, was cremated last Tuesday and posts of social media revealed he had passed away alone at home.

But his death also revealed the care and kindness Carol and Steve Richardson from Preesall had shown the bachelor.

Carol, 51, who is a mother of twins, said: “Ken had no family and no next of kin and as far as we knew and not a lot of friends.

“However,if you had come across Ken you would know of him as a kind old man who regularly caught buses to Poulton or Lancaster. Before moving here, he lived in Blackpool. We met him first as a neighbour. One Christmas morning he knocked on the door to say merry Christmas and I asked him to come in for a drink. I asked if he had any family and he said no. I asked him to stay with us for dinner and he stayed all day. We just felt so sorry for him.

“ We made sure we helped him as much as we could over the years and we all became very fond of him. He moved flats and my husband moved all his belongings. He didn’t even have a bed. We helped get him settled into his flat and he used to visit us every week or so for a brew.

“I asked him if he’d been married, and no, he hasn’t and no children. He did mention a brother who had passed away many years ago …

“But from what Ken told us, there weren’t any relatives in his life now. He was quite a loner really. It’s very sad.

I’m so glad we had him as our friend, he brought us a lot of joy to me, Steve, and our twins, William and Annie. We all made sure he was welcome in our family.

“He also loved our dog Millie. Ken was her favourite person. The photograph ( shown here) was last Christmas as we took him out for Christmas lunch, normally we had it at home.”

Carol and Steve, 64, a taxi driver, attended the funeral on Tuesday at Carleton Crematorium and Carol added: “It was very sad this morning. It was only us there. If you knew Ken please think of him.”

In a wave of social media responses, the couple were praised for their kindness to Mr Thompson.

One read: “Brings tears to my eyes reading about this gentleman, it’s a good job there is still some lovely people about who welcomed him into your family without being judgmental, especially at Christmas time which can be incredibly lonely…..I know.

“Hats off to the Richardson family, not only looking out for him while he was living but waving a fond farewell too. He would be so pleased I’m sure that you attended his final journey to say goodbye R.I.P. Ken.”

And another post, with sentiments agreed by a wider audience, read: “Carol and Steve are the most caring couple I know.”