Remembering, Honoring Their Queen |

Rik Sills, of Rotonda, stands near a portrait of Queen Elizabeth in his home.

In an April 9 image, the North Port British Ladies celebrated Queen Elizabeth’s birthday and Jubilee with a high tea in North Port. Queen Elizabeth died Thursday after serving as the head of the royal family — and British monarchy, since 1952.

Rik Sills, of Rotonda, stands near a portrait of Queen Elizabeth in his home.

At the age of 11, Rik Sills skipped school in Leicester, England, to see Queen Elizabeth’s 25th anniversary on the throne.

Now he plans to take off work at Cranberry Elementary School in North Port to watch her funeral.

“At the time, 25 years on the throne seemed like a long time,” said Sills, a Rotonda resident who still has family in England.

He has a good memory of the queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977.

“I got to see the queen waving from the balcony from town hall,” he said. “I remember it well, she is so well beloved.”

Sills, the former president of the British Club of Englewood, was among the thousands of Britons and others in Southwest Florida remembering Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday — the day she died.

“On behalf of the British Ladies of North Port, we are very sad of the passing of the queen,” said Barbara Bannard.

Bannard is one of the founders of the club, which meets at noon the first Monday of each month at Austin’s Olde World restaurant in North Port.

“I left England in 1956 — she is my queen,” Bannard said. “She was a woman of the people. I remember watching the coronation (in 1952) with my family as a little girl, and with neighbors as we were the only ones in the neighborhood with a television.”

Across town, James Wood stood under an umbrella in the pouring rain Thursday afternoon calling the names of students leaving the Gene Matthews North Port Boys & Girls Club. He is the new unit director.

He received a text from his mother about the queen’s death. He said his mother, who lives in central London, is unusually sad.

“Growing up we weren’t fans of a monarchy family, we liked democracy,” said Wood, 42. “So it surprised me that my mum, who’s in her 70s, was crying her eyes out...I knew it was coming, the queen served longer than any other person and Prince Charles waited longer than anyone else to serve.”

Wood, who ditched his shoes while standing in puddles as parents drove up to him to get their children, joked the rain was brought by the queen’s passing.

“She (the queen) certainly has brought us some English weather today,” he said. “That won’t stop me from meeting my friend from New Castle at Shakespeare’s (Pub) in Sarasota tonight and and have a little pint to toast the queen.”

Darryl Keys, is the president of Zypha Corp. in Port Charlotte. The 59-year-old is the former director of a city based Merchant Bank, director of the Rugby Football League and National President of the Executives Association of Great Britain.

On Thursday, he Skyped with his parents who still live in England. Much like the Queen Elizabeth II and Philip were married for 73 years, Keys’ parents who were childhood sweethearts, recently celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary in England.

“Everyone is just shocked,” he said. “Everyone appreciates her age, but she just installed the new prime minister two days ago. The queen was an institution.”

Keys and his wife, Samantha, received a special invitation for a garden party for senior sports personnel at Buckingham Palace before they moved to Florida in 2008.

“You don’t shake the queen’s hand,” he said. “She stands in front of you. If you are lucky, she speaks to you. It was a magnificent day drinking tea on the lawn. We kept the invitation and envelope.”

Keys said Samantha’s grandfather was a King’s Guard for six years at Buckingham Palace.

Keys said he will watch the queen’s funeral.

“I think she’s done a fabulous job and managed to stay with it,” he said. “She’s extremely popular. Now it’s up to Prince Charles and Camilla on how they handle themselves. They have to be the people of the people. It’s going to be strange as she was a monarch before many of us were born.”

In Englewood, Sills said he is a bit concerned for the new generation of the royal family.

“I’m not sure I have the same love for them,” he said. “Prince Charles has some big shoes to fill. He’s got to earn that trust.”

He noted King Charles III will likely not have a long reign due to his own age — he’s 74 now.

“But the monarchy will go on,” he said. “The name will live on. Charles is fairly well liked, but nothing like the queen. It will be different in saying ‘God save the king.’”

Sills was watching British television before he went to work Thursday. He knew something was wrong when news reports were alerting the world of the queen’s health.

“They never report on the queen’s health,” he said. “I knew this was the beginning of the end. Then my wife texted me and said the queen died. It’s the only queen most of us have known for 70 years.”

She’d been queen during the time of 13 American presidents and five popes, it was noted.

Sills said the outpouring of grief is on a massive scale. He plans to watch the funeral. He wants to be around friends, some from the British Club of Englewood, and take the day off, share stories and “toasting the queen.”

“She’s lived a full life,” he said. “In her early days, she was so busy flying around the world. Charles is really going to have to step up.”

Staff writer Sue Erwin contributed to this story.

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