Gerard John was born to parents, Pat & Walter Falck, on the 20th of July 1967 in Pontypridd. He was the second of their 3 sons. Sadly older brother Brandon passed away soon after his birth, and younger brother Stephen completed the family.
The Falck’s lived in Tonteg, Pontypridd and were a very close-knit family, with the boys enjoying a very happy childhood. Growing up Gerard had many friends, with Stephen, neighbours and various friends and many very happy hours were spent playing rugby, cricket & badminton; as well as other sports.
As a family they would holiday together in such places as Tenby, north & west Wales and Tenerife amongst others, where lots of happy memories were made. Gerard always remembered their around the world cruise on the Queen Mary.
After leaving Gwauncelyn Primary School, at the age of 11, Gerard went on to Christ College, Brecon, where he was a weekly boarder. He was extremally good at Maths and had great general knowledge. In 1985 Gerard sat his A-levels in Physics, Maths & Advanced Maths and he did very well, gaining grade B in all three.
While Gerard was growing up Walter had a menswear shop, selling suits, and he’d sometimes work alongside his father to help out. Apparently, during his teenage years Gerard was a hit with the ladies. I am told he was very handsome, was well educated and had a charming smile so no wonder he was a “jack the lad” and always enjoyed himself. Sometimes his antics landed Gerard in trouble though as he crashed and wrote off his father’s car on the way to meet a young lady one time, and another time he was beaten up by local lads who disliked the lady he was with!
Gerard remained close with his brother Stephen, and he loved nothing more than sitting down for a full English breakfast together, when on holiday in Tenerife; and in later years they carried on the tradition over a beer or three in the Wetherspoons pub in Farnborough, while Maria was away. His love of sports continued into adulthood with Gerard playing rugby and cross country running, as well as watching sports; he particularly liked watching Stephen playing cricket. His taste in the classic 80’s music of his youth endured, with him enjoying listening to Duran Duran and Prince, in particular.
In 1986 Gerard went to work for NatWest Bank for a year, as a cashier in Ton Pentre. Then the following year he enrolled in City University, London where he spent the next 3 years studying Actuary, encompassing Maths, Stats and Data analysis, though various misdemeanours led to him having to re-sit a year. In 1990, saw Gerard working as a Manager in McDonalds and then in 2000 Gerard started working for Spring IT Solutions, as a computer programmer.
On March 10th 2000, Gerard met the love of his life, Maria, and here are her words:
Gerard and I were like yin & yang; complete opposites. He was my calm and purity, and I was his energy and fire. We spent four years making plans for the future, like any couple would. In 2004 we moved to Farnborough. He still came back to Wales and was always home for Christmas. Gerard, Stephen and I (the three musketeers) One huge draw of coming back to see the family was his Mum’s delicious cooking; her apple pie and corn beef pie, which Gerard couldn’t get enough of, and some of which we would take back with us to Farnborough.
But then in December 2006, Gerard had a stroke that changed our lives completely. At one point we were warned that this could be ‘the end’, but he fought and fought in ICU, and with the love and support, he miraculously came through it!
Still, it never broke us. We learned to live with his disability and made the most of every opportunity life gave us. We stopped planning for the future and started living in the present. That’s when we discovered the beauty of cruising — our favourite way to travel. It became our only plan, as we had to book tickets years in advance to secure an accessible cabin. We went on 14 cruises, crossing the Atlantic four times. Gerard loved going to Madrid, where my family lives. He was so proud to be Welsh. Whenever someone asked if he was English, he’d always reply, “No, I’m Welsh.”
After 16 years together, on the 24th of December 2015, Gerard proposed to me. We got married on the 26th of March 2016. Gerard never tired of telling me how much he loved me. He used to say he loved me so much it hurt. And now I understand what he meant.
When we were told in April this year that he was dying, it felt like a bucket of cold water had been thrown over me. After everything we’d been through, this was something we couldn’t overcome.
