A loveable hero is mourned by many (From Swindon Advertiser)

A loveable hero is mourned by many

10:30am Friday 27th January 2012 in Local

THE funeral of local hero Arnold Carey, who saved the lives of two people in separate incidents in Swindon is to be held today in Gorse Hill.

Mr Carey – known to friends as Arnie –made the front page of the Adver in 1959 when he helped to carry a 74-year-old woman out of a gas-filled house in the town centre.

Ten years later he and a friend were walking around Coate Water when they rescued a small boy who had become trapped in a reed bed.

Mr Carey died at Great Western Hospital on January 13, aged 73. Scores of friends and family are expected to attend his funeral today at St Barnabas Church, in Ferndale Road.

Jennie Humby, a close friend, said: “He was a fun person, he loved practical jokes. Everyone who ever met him couldn’t help but love him.

“He was very loveable. It didn’t matter what age they were – children, teenagers, in their 20s – some of his best mates were maybe 20 or 30.

“He touched so many hearts that it would be impossible to name them all.”

Mr Carey was born one of 11 children in Beatrice Street, Gorse Hill on June 3, 1938.

He attended the local school before joining Swindon Corporation, a forerunner of Swindon Council.

He worked in a number of roles including as a gritter driver, and his first heroic act came in the employment of the corporation at the age of just 21 on August 11, 1959.

The front page of the next day’s Adver tells how Mr Carey and some colleagues were working on the road in Queen Street, when they smelt gas coming from a house at nearby Cambria Bridge Cottages.

They broke into the property and found the owner, 74-year-old Rose Chamberlain, overcome with fumes after accidentally leaving a gas tap partly switched on.

Mr Carey and another man carried her outside, where was she revived by fire officers.

Little is known about his second heroic act at Coater Water, but it is thought to have happened between 1959 and 1966.

Mr Carey married his wife Maria in June 1969 and acquired three step-children.

The couple ran a launderette in Cricklade Road, Gorse Hill, between 1961 and 1971.

In January 1971, the pair emigrated to Australia but they later split up.

Mr Carey lived in the Adelaide area with his new partner, Shirl White, for several years, returning home occasionally for holidays.

He worked as a handyman and landscaper.

Shirl died of cancer in April 2002 and Mr Carey came back to Swindon in June, living at David Stoddart Gardens, in Omdurman Street, Gorse Hill.

He died of a heart attack on January 13. After the funeral today the cremation will take place at Kingsdown Crematorium.