Neville Andrew Baxter died Saturday, the 27th of October, 2012. His ashes were taken by his wife, Rosemary, to Northampton, England, for a service at the Parish Church of St. Matthew on the 16th of November. Burial took place after the service at the Kingsthorpe Cemetery in Northampton. He was "only on loan to America" while married to Rosemary the past 27 years. Neville was born in April 1929 in Northern Ireland and educated in a two-room school. He left school with a Leaving Certificate at age 14. He joined the Merchant Navy training ship at Sharpness, England, and traveled the world by sea. When he returned to Northern Ireland, he worked for Down Shoes and met his first wife, Maisie. They married and had three children David, Julie and Lynn, all living in England and Romania. In 1963, he relocated to Northampton, England, and worked as a manager for different shoe companies. Neville was very proud of his five grandchildren Catherine, Neil, Sarah, Michael and Josh, all living in England; and great-grandchildren Maisie (4) and twins Aden and Caitlen (5 months), all living in England. Maisie died in 1983 and Neville became a widower in his mid 50s. He found new happiness with Rosemary, who visited his neighbors in Northampton and they fell in love. They married in April 1985 at St. Stephen''s Episcopal Church in San Luis Obispo. In his zeal to please Rosemary, he dyed shoe leather to match her dress, designed a new style and made her wedding shoes. He enjoyed an extended family of step-daughters Jacquie and Angela; and step-grandson, James, in California. Neville found employment at the California Men''s Colony as a supervisor of the Shoe Factory for the Prison Industry Authority of the State of California. Neville had a passion for travel. Having enjoyed boating on the River Nene with Maisie in the late 1970s, he and Rosemary became owners of a canal/river cruising narrowboat the Shelley Anne. They spent several months each year in England cruising the waterways and visiting with family. They created a new network of boat friends. Still very active at age 78, he and his daughter, Lynn, crossed the Atlantic as a part of the crew on the tall ship, Tenacious, from Bermuda via the Azores, Cork, Ireland, and on to Southampton, England. He was the Captain''s favorite to steer the ship, which earned him the nickname "Old Man of the Sea." Neville had a great sense of humor and loved to tell stories. He was young at heart and found conversation easy with young or old. Very intelligent, self-educated, well-read, he was the first person people turned to for advice and reassurance. Many people on both sides of the Atlantic miss him. You may give a memorial gift in Neville''s honor to either Habitat for Humanity for SLO County, P.O. Box 613, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406; or Salvation Army of SLO, 813 Islay St. San Luis Obispo, CA 93401.