Ted Fleet sadly passed away at the end of 2024 and his wish was that money donated at his funeral would go to RNLI Rye Harbour. His son Kevin came to the boathouse and handed over £800 which had been so generously given by his family and friends. He met with the crew and in fact knew one of them well from his childhood. He said: “I am glad we were able to fulfil my father’s wishes and continue the links to the RNLI. As a family we hope that this donation will enable the volunteer crew to carry on their sterling work and save lives at sea.”
Ted Fleet was born in 1941 and spent his early childhood in Margate, Kent where his parents ran a hotel bar where many of the local RNLI lifeboatmen gathered to socialise on their days off. Ted naturally got to know the lifeboatmen quite well. One day, the crew was called out to two youngsters who were in trouble at sea in a small boat. On arriving at the scene, crew discovered that one of the youngsters was Ted. He was so grateful for their help in saving him, that whenever asked for a charitable donation, the RNLI was always the first on his mind. He was a regular donator to their appeal.
Ted was husband to Pam, whom he married in 1962, and father to Kevin, Andrew and Robert. He was a local businessman owning and running businesses in Camber and Rye. In Camber he owned Silver Sands Caravan Park, the Camber Castle Pub and Fleet Stores among others. In Rye he was a business partner with Stuart Pope and together they built and ran the River Haven Motel.
He will be sadly missed.
Image Credits: Kt bruce , Fleet family archives .