Alec Best of Best and Sons Coaches passed away on Sunday 17 March at the Briarwood Care Home, Middlesbrough.
Alec had been in the coaching industry his whole life, following in the footsteps of his father Bert.
He will be laid to rest on Friday 5 April at 1415hrs at St Hilda’s Crematorium, Acklam, Middlesbrough.
Alec leaves behind his widow Olive, daughters Ivy and Susan and his son Peter who worked alongside his father for numerous years.
Soon after the Second World War, Bert Best, who produced breeze blocks, bought a couple of coaches for street parties and for the families to go to Southend for a weekend.
This led Bert into the world of coaching and his four sons joined the company.
As they got older, they all became PSV drivers.
George was the eldest, followed by Ron, Alec and Brian; in later years George went off to run a cafe and hall by Willesden Bus Garage.
Ron won the first ever Coach Rally in a Sentinel at Clacton.
However, he died in 1964 so Alec stepped up to run the coach company and started Best and Sons, ending up with 20 coaches, two buses and a lorry for the luggage.
Alec also entered a Van Hool in the Rally, driven by his brother Brian, with an AC691 engine which won the Best Coach at the Rally three years running.
Alec also won his driving class every time he entered – even one year with a broken leg.
In 1983 Best and Sons progressed to the music business, the same year his son Peter joined the company and in 1989 Peter won the 40th British Coach Rally.
This was later disputed and to this day no-one knows why, but it resulted in Best Coaches retiring from entering Coach Rallies.
