Merle “Ting” Tingley

Sorry to hear of Merle,s passing as a past director of care at Waverley he was the light and spirit of jokes for many of us . He was a very pleasant man who gave me lots of laughs

Please accept our sincere condolences at this time of Ting’s passing.

It was so much fun to have the Tingleys as next-door neighbours for so many years on Baker Street, beside my parents’ home (Rev. Morley and Trudie Clarke).

Please allow me to share a funny little story that illustrates Ting’s creative wit:

One of my favourite memories of Ting was when my mother had an accident with the car. In the late 1960s our 1967 Ford Country Squire was one boat of a station wagon. We discovered that the only way to get the Ford fully into the garage (so that the garage door would close) was to gently touch the front bumper to the back wall. Well, one day Mum “touched” it a little too hard. Crawling vines outside had weakened the wall mortar and the back wall came tumbling down in a huge, gaping section, littering bricks onto the car and into the back yard!

Shortly thereafter Ting and Gene cheerfully showed up on our doorstep, delivering a poster with photos of the strewn bricks. Included was a Ting cartoon portrayal, along with the following lyrics, to be sung to “Deck the Halls.”

“Deck the yard with bricks and mortar, Trudie-doo-dee-do, de do de do
‘Tis the reason the grass is shorter , Trudie-doo-dee-do, de do de do
Time to get out the ol’ wheelbarrow, Trudie-doo-dee-do, de do de do
Thank the Lord the garage ain’t narrow!, , Trudie-doo-dee-do, de do de do.”

So sorry to hear of Mr. Tingleys passing. My mother went to school with he and his sister. I always enjoyed searching for Lukeworm and this was passed on to my children as well. I was honoured to meet him at his home in south London with my mom. Never to be forgotten. Rest in peace Mr. Tingley.