Helicopter named after Long Buckby man who left almost £3 million to charity

John Denny Chipman Kerrell died at the age of 101, 10 days before his birthday.

The man from Long Buckby donated nearly £3 million under the terms of his estate to the Air Ambulance Service - making it “the largest donation that they've ever had.”

In recognition of his donation, Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance (WNAA) named one of their aircraft after him.

Wendy Piper, 70, Denny’s close friend and neighbour, said: “He would be so proud of it. It would just be a dream for him.”

Denny Kerrell moved to the Benbow Farm in Long Buckby when he was seven years old.

“He went to school at Bloxham and hated it. He couldn’t stand being indoors.

“He worked very hard all his life,” said Wendy.

He used to care for people’s animals and had some of his own, including horses and dogs.

“He loved all animals, but most of all horses and foxes.

“He kept bees and won lots of awards for his prized honey,” said Wendy.

Wendy and Denny became close friends since her husband worked with Denny at the farm since 1960.

“He taught my husband a lot about life, farming, and other stuff. My husband talked very highly of him. Everybody just thought he was lovely,” she said.

As the years passed, he developed dementia. Denny, who was the last living member of his family, asked Wendy to be his attorney and manage his affairs.

“He became a big part of our lives as he got older, and he was less independent.

“He had a big impact on our lives in the last 20 years of his life,” said Wendy.

In 2018, Denny moved to the Anya Court Residential Home, an assisted living residence in Warwickshire, Rugby.

“He was very, very reluctant to go into the care home. He wanted to stay on the farm.

“It was for his own safety that he had to go there,” said Wendy.

Denny died of old age on February 16, 2022. He left some of his possessions to Wendy and donated £2,600,000 to the Air Ambulance Service.

“It was the largest donation that they've ever had. He liked to see the air ambulance flying over, and he thought it was a very good cause.

“He was one of life's true gentlemen and is very much missed,” said Wendy.

WNAA agreed to honour this legacy by naming one of their aircraft after Denny.

The Air Ambulance Service CEO, Peta Wilkinson, said: "We are so very grateful that Denny held our charity in such a high regard and chose to support us with this extremely generous legacy.

"Legacies like Denny's really do make such a difference to our charity, funding one in seven of our potentially lifesaving missions, and we are appreciative of everyone who supports us in the way."

Wendy and her family were invited to see the helicopter in Coventry on May 8.

“I think we all got very emotional,” said Wendy.

Peta Wilkinson said: "Our WNAA now proudly features Denny's name as a testament to his legacy and we were delighted to meet Wendy and learn more about Denny and his life when we unveiled the name at our airbase.”