The Boxer – CHRISTOPHER NEIL MLYNARCZYK

A grave that has intrigued many of us for some while is that of Christopher Neil Mlynarczyk.  We have done some research on him and discovered that he was born in 1951, and died aged 21 years. As his grave depicted a boxer, we thought he may have died in a boxing accident. Looking into the local papers of that time we have put together his life.

He lived in King Edward Road with his parents Stefan and Dorothy. He was a talented boxer who boxed under the name of ‘Destar’. He was an amateur, who only turned professional one month before his death, and had his first professional fight two weeks before that. He was tipped to have a great future in the sport. He had boxed from the age of 14, first at Goldington Road Secondary School and then joined Bedford Boys Club. He trained every day and had had 135 amateur fights, of which he won 80. Two years before his death he won his way through to the final of the  National Association of Boys Clubs Championship, but lost on points. He had been picked to represent Britain against America. His trainer, Paul Kine, said of him “Chris was a fine boxer, who showed a great natural ability and we had great hopes for him. He was a good all-rounder and his death is a sad loss”.

His death was sadly prosaic, as he was killed on the way to the Co-op shop where he worked as Butchery Manager. It seems probable that his father was Polish, and could perhaps have been one of the Polish Armed Forces that came to this country at the start of the 2nd World War and married an English girl. His father Stefan died on 5th August 1981 aged 61 years and his mother Dorothy Elizabeth died on 28th July 1991 aged 77 years. If anyone knows more about Christopher we should be delighted to hear from you.

He is buried in plot H7, on the left hand side, close to the path that leads up to the well known Wyatt enclosure.