Hillsborough stories: Peter Reuben Thompson

Peter Reuben Thompson, a married engineer from Wigan, was a Liverpool FC season ticket holder. He had travelled on his own in his company car to the match in Sheffield on 15 April 1989.

This is the full statement to the inquests read on behalf of his family by his brother, Denis Thompson:

Peter Reuben Thompson was born in Whiston Hospital in 1958 and grew up in Widnes. He was the eldest of three brothers born within three years or so to our parents, Denis and Marie.

There was a large extended family in Widnes, whom we all saw regularly, so Peter grew up in a warm and happy environment. Our Dad was a joiner and our Mum trained to be a teacher when we were very young.

They were, and are, hard-working, self-reliant people and Peter inherited these values from them.

As the eldest child, he was expected to be an example to his younger brothers, a role which seemed to come naturally to him.

My brother Tony and I both looked up to him. Even now, we think of him as being older and more mature than us, but of course we are 20 years older than he was when he died.

Outdoor life

In the summer, we would go on holiday to Blackpool or North Wales, where we always enjoyed ourselves, despite the unpredictable weather.

Peter in particular, loved the outdoors. He joined the Venture Scouts as a teenager and as an adult enlisted with the TA. He was always physically fit: he was keen on squash and martial arts and played five-a-side football whenever he could.

Peter went to St Michael's Primary School in Widnes and then to West Park High School in St Helens. He was a bright, hard-working lad who was popular and had lots of friends. He started going to watch Liverpool in the early 1970s with his mates from school and took me along with him.

Tony was a Manchester United fan, which was the cause of much good-natured banter at his expense (though he has fully reciprocated since). In those days, we stood on the Kop, but in later years he sat in the main stand as a season ticket holder.

His favourite band at this time was Dr Feelgood and he was noted for a fine dance floor impersonation of the guitarist, Wilko Johnson.

After leaving school, he worked for British Aerospace for a year as part of a sandwich degree in electrical and electronic engineering at Imperial College in London. Tony remembers visiting him in London and playing snooker with him in a room overlooking the Royal Albert Hall.

Business travel

He remembers thinking how much he had already achieved through his hard work and commitment. We both remember hitching down from Widnes to London for his 21st birthday and his genuine pleasure at our appearance.

Peter later acted as best man at Tony's wedding. I don't think public speaking came naturally to him, and I remember being instructed to get him a stiff drink to instil some Dutch courage. The speech went off well, though, and he couldn't resist a reference to the Liverpool match he was forced to miss in order to be there.

He worked for British Aerospace in Preston for a year or so after finishing his degree, and then started a varied and successful career in engineering, working in Norway, Canada, the US and Holland, as well as in the UK.

He was very self-motivated and gained a huge amount of experience in a short space of time.

He remained passionate about Liverpool and went to watch them whenever he could. He went to the Rome final in 1984 and was at Heysel in 1985.

It was while working for Philips in Eindhoven that he met his future wife, Linda. They grew close and decided to move to England, setting up home in Orrell, near Wigan.

Their wedding was in Eindhoven and it was a particularly joyous occasion with the Dutch and English families all coming together for a truly memorable event. A few weeks later, there was a party in Wigan for family and friends from England.

'Warm and generous'

Linda and Peter were looking forward to the birth of their first child when Peter died. His daughter, Nikki, was born in August 1989, and a couple of years later Linda decided to return home to Holland and bring Nikki up there. The families are still in touch, and we see as much of Nikki as we can.

Peter was the kind of person who was able to get on with people wherever he went. People felt at ease with him. He had a warm and generous nature, and a quick sense of humour.

Above all, he was completely without pretension. He would, I am sure, have been a wonderful father to Nikki.

He was deeply loved by his family and friends, and we cherish his memory still.