Simon Redhead - Andy 1957

brothers

What happens when the quiet cornerstone of a family disappears? In this deeply affecting episode, I speak with Andy about his younger brother Simon — a man whose life, and sudden death, left a lasting imprint far beyond what anyone had imagined.

Simon grew up in Leeds, surrounded by teachers, and went on to become a much-loved PE teacher himself. It wasn’t until his funeral, attended by hundreds of former pupils, that the full extent of his influence became clear. “The place virtually came to a standstill,” Andy tells me, describing mourners packed “up in the rafters.”

Though five years apart in age, the brothers grew close over time, bonding through sport and their shared devotion to Everton. Andy’s recollections of 1960s Yorkshire are vivid — seaside holidays in Filey and Scarborough, pushing prams to school, and kicking footballs down quiet streets where “you could stop every five minutes when a car came along.”

But it’s Simon’s character that lingers most. Andy describes him as the family’s mediator — someone with “no isms or ists,” who could “look at things from other people’s hilltops.” He was the quiet strength that held everyone together.

When I ask Andy what he’d say if he had one more conversation with Simon, his reply is heartbreakingly simple: “I would ask him to help me.” A decade on, he still misses Simon’s calm wisdom, admitting he’s “about two out of ten compared to his ten out of ten” when it comes to resolving family tensions.

This conversation left me asking: What legacy do we leave behind? Who will remember our best qualities when we’re no longer here to show them? Perhaps it’s the quiet, everyday kindness that endures longest.

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"In a world where you can be anything, be kind."