Tributes have been paid to Merthyr legend 'John the Laundry' after his death following a short illness. John Myrddin Jones and his daughter Judith Hardwick ran Merthyr Dry Cleaners for more than three decades, with John becoming a recognisable figure in the area for his “kind and generous” personality.
John, 80, was a well-respected member of the Dowlais Elim Family Church, which is where he was peacefully laid to rest on Saturday, February 4.
Judith said: “Merthyr will be very, very different without John the Laundry.
“It was rare to go anywhere without someone knowing him. We could go to Cardiff or Bournemouth and there’d be someone there that dad knew. He was the ‘van boy’ for the business. He drove the van, picking up orders and stopping to chat with the customers.
“Anyone who knew him would say he was kind and generous. There were stories at the funeral of him giving pound coins to children every time he saw them, which is something even I didn’t know.”
John worked as a fruit and vegetable delivery boy in his youth, and his role at the providence church as a young man took him and his family across south Wales. The Joneses settled back in Merthyr in 1978, with John and Judith opening their own shop several years later.
Tributes and donations came pouring in online following the funeral, with one couple saying: “Such a sad loss… a true gentleman, who will be truly missed by all that knew him.”
John also volunteered at the Vine Tree café in his spare time, with his daughter noting that “people would come from miles around to try his corned beef pasties”. John is survived by his three children, eight grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.
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