Alan's obituary
Alan's obituary
Dad was born in Liverpool and was fondly referred to as Scouse by his good friend Max Carew. He went to Manchester university where he graduated in Economics and Geography. He met mum at Butlins holiday camp in Filey and three years later they were married. From there they took the very brave decision to migrate to Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia, with a six week old baby, to find a better life.
Dad started off at a school in Bancroft and then was transferred to Chingola high school. In his last year there he became deputy head master.
He was then promoted to be the first headmaster of a new school. He took on the challenge starting with three classrooms and ninety kids and built it up to 800 students.
When he left it made the papers with a picture and long narrative recognizing and praising his tremendous achievements.
We left Zambia when the country started to go downhill. In true fashion, Dad arranged a fabulous trip back to the UK for the family, visiting various countries as we flew up through Africa, a trip that I remember today even though I was very young at the time.
After a year teaching at an ill-disciplined comprehensive school in the south of England, dad had had enough and we migrated to Zimbabwe.
These were good days and I think back fondly at the many really good friends we had, and the happy memories. Gifford High School was the fortunate recipient of dad’s intellect and teaching skills. He was a very good teacher, strict but fair, and his students got good results. It was a sad day for the teaching profession when he called it a day and hung up his cloak to take up a position at Supersonic.
It’s almost impossible to talk about dad without talking about mum, such was their love for each other. This love and their rock-solid relationship meant that we were brought up in a loving, caring, happy and stable environment. This includes the grandchildren, particularly Steve’s in whose lives mum and dad played a major role.
Dad was a very intelligent individual. A high achiever, he had very high standards and strong principles, and he lived by those principles unwaveringly. He was a good man, loved and respected by all. He always wanted to do the best for his family. Dad was generous to a fault, giving of his time freely and willingly, from providing extra lessons to helping a student whose car had broken down, taking people to church as a member of the Knights of D’gama or helping a mate with a big project. There are countless other ways that he has helped people and contributed to the community which was very important to him.
Dad was a big part of the Bulawayo community. To name a few he was a member of the church, wine and beer making society, birdwatchers society, Catenians, and Lions Club. Whatever he did, he did with enthusiasm and to the best of his ability. This includes singing in church at the top of his voice which wouldn’t have been so bad if he wasn’t completely tone deaf. His favorite was Stand Up Stand Up for Jesus, and during school assembly, with his Scouser accent, you could clearly hear the sound of his beautiful monotone voice. He also loved humming…..the same tune over and over. We have it on film and six months later we have it on film again.
I’ll never forget the day dad joined the army, seeing mum’s distress and the eerie atmosphere that descended on the house. But as with everything, dad made the best of the situation. He was there with some of his mates, even took some film and told some funny stories about the training when he got back.
Dad’s beer making skills were legendary and the beer that he made was possibly a bit too good, enjoyed by many. As was his way, he probably gave away more than he drank. I remember when he first started making beer and was experimenting, he added more sugar to try and make it sweeter. A bunch of us tested it out over a game of darts and could hardly see the dartboard let alone hit it after a couple of glasses.
We will all miss dad terribly. The world is a poorer place without him, but I like to think that we celebrate his passing rather than mourn his death. He lead such a full life and made such a huge contribution to society. The onset of Alzheimers was very sad, to see such an intelligent man, full of life, withdraw into his own world. I would like to recognize and thank mum for the herculean effort that she put into keeping dad healthy and safe and loved, and making his last few years with us as good as they possibly could have been.
I’m sure that dad is up there watching over us with our Lord, nodding his head in agreement in that thoughtful way that he does when concentrating. May he rest in peace.
