Christopher RobertCOUGHLANAndrew Coughlan writes:
Christopher Robert Coughlan ("Chris") was born in Ormskirk in February 1953, the much-loved eldest son of Con and Marj. He grew up in Aughton, moving to Southport as a teenager.
Being the son of a garage proprietor, he developed a love of cars and, although he tried his hand at other things over the years, he always returned to buying and selling cars as a source of income. He was very good at it. Growing up I can remember several notable vehicles: a white, left-hand drive, 3 litre Capri with enormous exhausts that could be heard for miles around Kensington Road in the early hours. There were at least two beautiful E Types and several American V8 muscle cars. I got to sit in and ride in all of them.
In his younger days he was a keen sportsman and a very good goalkeeper. When I was 10 or 11, a highlight of my Summer holidays was being allowed to go with Chris and his 'mates' on a Saturday night to play football on Southport beach. We stayed until it went dark. One of his friends, Jonathan, even had a Bond Bug.
Although we were never very close and grew further apart over time, we retained that intangible brotherly bond. Chris battled alcoholism for most of his adult life. Even so, there were significant periods when he appeared to have tamed this demon and, more recently, he spent many happy years with his partner, Jan.
There were certainly some turbulent times in his Bohemian life but many of us who knew him at his best will remember a sharp-witted, funny man with a very quick mind.
There will be a private cremation with his ashes to be scattered in the Lake District where he and Jan used to walk with their beloved dog Coco. Coco passed away a few years before Chris and their ashes will be scattered together. He would like that.
Rest in peace, brother.
Drew
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