Young P.C. John "Fred" Eastwood
The following tribute was very kindly provided by John’s wife, Betty (nee Doe) in July 2013.
John was born, on June 25, 1932 in Hull, East Yorkshire, England where he was educated and lived until he served in the British Army for his two year stint as a Military Policeman. After the Army John worked as a policeman on the docks in Hull until he decided to apply to the Colonial Government Office to go to the Falklands on a meteorology ship to study the weather there.
John met Bill McCormack at the Colonial office and Bill told John he was nuts to go to the Falklands as it was cold and there were only penguins whereas he was going to Bermuda with nice beaches and warm weather. He persuaded John to apply to serve on the Bermuda Police Force and John decided he liked that idea better.
During John’s police work on the docks in Hull, he had a fully trained German Shepherd police dog which he was very attached to and his superiors told him he could have the dog to take with him to Bermuda if he wished. John informed the Bermuda Police that they could have this fully trained police dog if they would pay his shipping cost. Unfortunately, the Bermuda Police did not want the dog at that time. That could have been Bermuda’s first police dog!
John arrived on the Reina del Pacifico along with Bill McCormack, John Hobbs and John Bull in May 1955.
Constables and close friends Bill McCormack and John Easton on John and Bill became very close friends and walked the beat together. Bill no doubt has lots of stories about their adventures. John also served in the Traffic Department for a while.
John was known to many of his colleagues as “Fred”, his second name, due to the fact there were so many John’s in the Police Force at that time.
John met his future wife M. Elizabeth (Betty) Doe on May 25, 1955 just a few weeks after he arrived in Bermuda at a (first) Police picnic on Hawkins Island. Betty’s uncle, Inspector J. S.”Tug” Wilson, introduced them on the first boat over to the Island to set up for the picnic. John had only been in Bermuda about two weeks at that time. Fred Frederickson, a Danish member of the Bermuda Police Force, ferried John and Betty to the island.
Betty and John were married in July, 1958. Their two daughters, Donna and Johanne, were born in 1963 and l965. John and Betty also have two grandsons aged 17 and 19 and two granddaughters aged 24 and 25.
John used to enjoy running and ran for Hull at one time when he was still living there. He attempted to continue running in Bermuda but, due to the heat, he lost quite a bit of weight so gave that up and spent more time in other activities such as fishing, swimming, scuba diving etc. The scuba diving was another story. He bought the breathing apparatus from a sailor at the US Naval Base as well as a large cylinder for the air and it’s believed he was one of the first scuba divers in Bermuda. Betty used to spot check when she was with him, watching the bubbles. It was not unusual for him to venture into underwater caves in search of some sea creature or other.
John was very musically inclined and could play basically everything he laid his hands on once he got the scale. His favourite instruments were the guitar and the piano, and in later years an organ. A picture of him playing the mandolin with three of his companions in the police force is attached. He also was a good artist and did some nice oil paintings while still living in Bermuda.
John served on the Bermuda Police Force until the end of his contract in 1960, and returned for a short time to the UK to look into work and housing for his family but then decided to return to Bermuda where there were better opportunities.
He did not return to the Police Force but worked as a civilian after that, firstly with British Overseas Airways then the Bank of Bermuda.
John and his family immigrated to Canada in l967; first to Toronto, Ontario, then in 1970 his place of business transferred him to the Prairies to open a new branch in the City of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He was again transferred to open a branch in the southern interior of British Columbia in the City of Kamloops.
John spent his retirement years enjoying building small furniture items as well as jewelry boxes for family members. John never got back into oil painting when he retired and seemed to prefer his woodwork.
John passed away on May 2, 2006.
Editors Note - Betty Eastwood (nee Doe) still maintains contacts with Bermuda and with members of the Doe family. The photo of John and Betty’s four grandchildren above was taken in August 2012 when 22 members of their family descended on Bermuda for a Canadian “Doe” family reunion, staying at Greenbank Cottages during their visit. All of their Doe cousin’s family from Nova Scotia, including children and grandchildren, together with his cousin from the U.K came for the reunion. Betty’s two grandson’s made every effort to display their Bermuda heritage by wearing Bermuda shorts during their stay!