Remembering Michael Gooch, the former West Suffolk Hospital nurse who went to Culford School, near Bury St Edmunds, and loved Suffolk

A former nurse and teacher has been remembered as a lovely man who was ‘deeply rooted in Suffolk’.

Michael Gooch died on February 25, aged 88, at West Suffolk Hospital, in Bury St Edmunds, where he trained as a nurse 70 years before.

Father to Sally, Jessica and Rachel, Michael had eight grandchildren and is survived by his second wife Ena, described as the love of his life.

Michael’s daughter Rachel said: “Since he retired and came back to Suffolk his passion was his garden and the countryside.”

She praised the relationship her father had with Ena, to whom he was married for 40 years.

Rachel said: “It has been touching to see how close they were as a couple in his final years.”

His sister Bridget, who lives in the United States, can still remember a lot about her older brother’s childhood.

The Gooch family, who lived in Cavenham, were well known, with Michael and other children in the village enjoying their time in the grounds of Lark Hall.

Michael, the son of a farm labourer, won a scholarship to Culford School, where he never felt comfortable with the class divide.

Each day he cycled 12 miles to school with his pet jackdaw perched on the handlebars of his bicycle.

After finishing school, he completed his national service with the Royal Army Medical Corps and was offered a commission to become an officer.

However, again troubled by class divisions, he chose to complete his nurse training at West Suffolk Hospital.

There he won the Wentworth Reeve Prize for Nurses in 1958 and met his first wife – the mother of his three daughters.

Rachel said: “Dad made a lot of friends at the hospital and really enjoyed his time there.

“He used to go back for reunions – it mattered a lot to him.”

Rachel said: “As a child I remember him being a great dad. He wanted to broaden our horizons.”

She remembers holidays in the 1970s when her Michael would pack up a VW campervan and drive across Europe.

After leaving nursing, Michael retrained as a teacher and met Ena after the end of his first marriage.

The couple went on to run a care home in Fareham together before returning to Suffolk, living in Rougham and then Norton.

“He loved Suffolk, it was the place where he was born and where he died,” said Rachel.

“We will all miss him. He was lovely and compassionate and I will remember how funny he was.

“Even in his last days he was making jokes and trying to make everything okay for everyone else.”

Michael’s funeral took place on Tuesday.

A JustGiving page has been set up in his memory, to raise funds for the Royal Papworth Hospital Charity. Michael had heart surgery at the hospital in 2021.

Rachel said: “They cared for him in an incredible way and he was grateful for the extra time it gave him.”

You can donate to the JustGiving page here: justgiving.com/ page/michael-gooch