Rod Sladen died peacefully and unexpectedly in February 2022 (aged 73).
Rod's funeral is planned for .
The funeral service (celebration for the life of Rod) will be held at Nottingham Friends Meeting House:
25 Clarendon StreetGPS coordinates: 52.95735,-1.15753; or OpenStreetMap mapping link. We will open the sliding doors/windows to the social room and side-garden.
There is very little parking on Clarendon Street: if driving by car, please use the Park & Ride facilities offered by the tram (Nottingham Express Transit) to arrive, or take the train + tram, just like Rod usually did! (Nearest stop: Nottingham Trent University, or High School for a more scenic walk). If you are still coming by car, remember to Pay at the Meter! Wear whatever you feel comfortable in (ie. not black!).
After the memorial meeting, hot drinks, refreshments and Rod's favourite of a vegetarian Bring-and-Share buffet lunch will be on offer to allow the conversation and memories of Rod to flow... (Rod loved cheese, maps, railways (of all gauges), canals, local and industrial history, benchmarks, geocaching, trams, satellite watching, public transport (including tickets + timetables), and having adventures with his bus pass!)
For those unable to, or uncomfortable about, attending in person we plan to provide an online video link, with the opportunity to also share and contribute ministry remotely. (Zoom link at top of page!)
Please, no need for flowers! If you would like to contribute something
personal, bring yourself, your memories, photographs, and stories, or
(if you feel able) a (vegetarian) cake, salad, or dish to share at lunch. (But no alcohol). Please bring food ready to serve (we will not have access to preparation facilities).
(For donations: please think of something yourself and Rod shared
a common interest in.)
Rod will be laid to rest outside in the Nottingham Meeting House garden (burial ground). This will be a simple burial starting just after .
All who wish to attend the burial are very welcome: there is plenty of room to spread out in the garden, so please leave space around the immediate graveside for the family and technicalities. Afterwards there will be time for quiet reflection: for another hour or so there will be the chance to say a quiet and personal goodbye to Rod, with an opportunity for everyone to add earth, leaves, or petals to the grave. People are welcome to move indoors [with masks] when they are ready, with the main memorial meeting and celebration of life starting at .
Quaker meetings, weddings, and celebrations of life are held around silence, punctuated by spoken contributions from those taking part. Everyone plays an equal part: there is no special minister. For more information, see: Quaker funerals: community and contribution, or First time at a Quaker meeting.
Rod was heavily involved with Quakers for most of his life; and a few weeks earlier had helped organise the logistics of the Quaker funeral for Beating Drum. This included measuring out a plot for the grave, in the same garden/burial ground that Rod will now also be buried in.
Contact: goodbye@rod.sladen.org.uk or 0115 922 7162 (email preferred; otherwise phone!) [If you have photos/group photos/stories we are trying to collect these in advance to make some displays covering the various aspects of Rod's + Peter's lives.]Addendum: Rod's only brother Peter Sladen died shortly afterwards in March 2022 (aged 84). Peter's funeral will take place five days later, on , in Crewe Crematorium, inside Crewe Cemetery—the same location as for Rod + Peter's mother Muriel.