A MOVING tribute was paid to a popular former employee at Redditch’s Sainsbury’s store on Friday when more than 100 of his ex-colleagues and customers gathered to give a minute’s applause to his funeral cortege.
Vinnie Williams had worked for more than 20 years at the store retrieving trolleys and during that time he became a character who all the customers liked to see and speak to.
As well as collecting the trolleys, he would always go out of his way to help customers with their shopping and, because he chatted and forged genuine relationships with people of all ages, many customers said he was well-known by different generations of their families.
Vinnie, who passed away on January 12 at the age of 77, initially retired three years ago but missed the job so much he returned six months later.
Then in 2015 he was forced to retire because of ill health.
His final request was for the funeral car to take him around the Redditch Sainsbury’s car park one last time.
And, after the service at St Stephen’s Church in Redditch on Friday, he was granted his wish and his colleagues were there to pay tribute to much-loved Vinnie on his final journey.
Redditch Sainsbury’s deputy manager Steve Waghorn, who worked with Vinnie for several years, said he was greatly missed.
“Vinnie was a favourite with our customers.
“He always had a smile on his face, regardless of the weather.
“From collecting trolleys to helping customers to their cars, Vinnie went the extra mile for everyone,” he added.
