May 21, 2018 | Obituaries
We have received this message from Jerry’s Daughter Adele:
“Jeremy (Jerry) Norris passed away suddenly on January 23rd 2012 aged 60. Jerry who lived in Wiggenhall St Germans had been strongly battling illness for almost two years.
Trustee of John Fisher School Old Boys association, loving father, and comical friend to many, will be sadly missed.
Funeral service at Wiggenhall St Germans church, Tuesday February 7th at 12 noon. Family, and friends who wish, to proceed to Mintlyn Crematorium after the service.
A celebration of Jerry’s life will follow at The Crown and Anchor, Wiggenhall St Germans.
No flowers; donations to Queen Elizabeth Hospital Cancer Care and Treatment Fund (Macmillian nurses) to be sent to A.J.Coggles, Funeral Directors, 69 Bridge Street, Downham Market, PE38 9DW “
I am sure that all John Fisher Old Boys and especially those who knew Jerry while at school or playing Football, will join us in passing our sincerest condolences and kind wishes to Adele and all Jerry’s Family
May 21, 2018 | Obituaries
We have recieved the very sad news from the School that Robin Williamson lost his battle against cancer and passed away Peacefull last night.
Robin will be well known to so many Old Boys, having been a hugely popular member of staff for nearly 40 years, even when, over the past year, illness prevented him from attending school full time, he was still regulalrly seen around the school and at events.
His funeral Mass is expected to be held in the School Chapel on Thursday 23rd February and we will confirm details as we receive them.
Please keep Robin, his family and his friends in your prayers and in your thoughts.
May 21, 2018 | Obituaries
The following excerpt is from his obituary published in the Times Register in March 2013, the full copy is also shown here on the Guardian website.
After attending the John Fisher School, in 1942 he volunteered for the Royal Navy and fire watched in London.
After his call-up he was trained as a coder and served in an Algerian-class minesweeper. He served in the Mediterranean and was involved in the liberation of Singapore and Hong Kong:
Demobilized in 1947, he met Andre L. Simon, who had founded the Wine & Food Society in 1933; the encounter was to change the course of Dunn Meynell’s life. He had originally intended a legal career and studied at the Law Society’s School of Law but in 1952, the year in which he married Nadine Denson, he joined the company that started credit cards in the UK and became its managing director. In that capacity he travelled all round the United States under the auspices of the
British Travel Association, making many television appearances and doing much to encourage tourism.
May 21, 2018 | Obituaries
A message from Neil Pearson
I would like to make you aware of the sad death of Aidan MacDermot who attended the school over 70 years ago. He was very fond of the school and was a recipient of your newsletters (though hadn’t seen one for a little while).
Aidan MacDermot April 3, 1923 – October 19, 2013 died suddenly on October 19, 2013. Aidan broadcast for the BBC for nearly 20 years before moving to the US where, until his retirement, he served as an Information Officer for the British Consulate in Chicago.
Beloved husband of 26 years to Rita (nee Shafer). Dear brother-in-law of Keith Pearson; uncle of Brian, Christopher, Nial, and Claire Pearson; father of Briana; grandfather of Jasper MacDermot; all of the U.K.
Sep 30, 2014 | Obituaries
The following is an extract of the Eulogy for Tony, by Michael Breen, at his funeral mass.
It is my privilege to say a few words about Tony.
I have much I could say, but the constraints of the allocated sound byte mean that I must leave out many of his achievements and the milestones of his life, and try to distil into a few words our affectionate regard for him.
I first met Tony in the 5th form of The John Fisher School, the seat of learning we both attended in Peaks Hill, Purley. It was not a mutual love of academia that formed the basis of our friendship – it was more his confidential advice to me that, if I cycled down to Carshalton, and put my school cap in my pocket, I would find that the landlord of the Windsor Castle had a very liberal interpretation of the licensing laws where schoolboys were concerned. He was right!
This was a very good start and later, with others, we joined St Elphege’s Youth Club – a controlled environment where young boys, painfully shy and suffuse with acne, under the watchful eye of the clergy, and to the staccato beat of cracked gramophone records, learnt to handle girls, so to speak.
With this well rounded streetwise education behind him, he was a natural for a career in the City of London. As you know he joined the insurance profession and achieved great success, eventually becoming a Lloyds aviation underwriter. Some of you here will no doubt be able to relate later something of his progress.
He was well liked among his colleagues and one of his special talents was his ability to mix with everybody. In a room full of strangers, where most of us would be shuffling around, exchanging defensive and banal remarks, Tony would immediately engage someone in conversation, take an interest in them, put them at ease, and often leave some poor soul feeling they were quite special. It was an enviable skill, not a calculated PR exercise, and his easy charm came from a genuine goodwill towards people and an interest in them.
I feel sure it played a great part in his successful career as it certainly did socially.
I had the pleasure of introducing him to golf; and he took to the game with huge enthusiasm. After some lessons and the purchase of much expensive equipment-and with a swing all his own-he was ready to accept the challenge of some of the world’s greatest courses, bringing to the game a handicap which completely understated his ability. He played widely from St. Andrews to Augusta National, from Sotogrande to Sunningdale. When he returned from these exploits with tales of triumph and disaster, as golfers do, he was fortunate in having Liz to lend an understanding ear to his delight or anguish, as Liz is a very competent golfer herself with a fine record with Sussex County Ladies. Tony was always quick to mention to his friends how much Liz meant to him.
In later years he hosted a splendid party for his 60th birthday at Royal Ashdown Forest G. C., a memorable event still uppermost in the minds of his friends and one Royal Ashdown are still trying to forget. His friends deliberated on a suitable present and I was dispatched to a DIY brewery in Canterbury to brew him 100 bottles of real ale with his own personal label on them. I have a copy of the label here today for your amusement, and I know that Tony would have been very amused if you took one home with you, although the contents of the bottles are long gone.
Retirement gave him the chance to indulge a wide range of interests.
He surprised me one day when he said he had bought a racehorse—or he had joined a syndicate that had. I had not previously associated him with the sport of kings beyond having two pound each way on the Derby. However here he was in the owners enclosure while the noble beast stretched its legs hopefully over the turf of England’s finest racecourses.
On another day he would show you with some pride a delightful new picture that Liz and he had just managed to acquire at an auction for their collection. Or perhaps he would recount the previous day’s play in the Test Match at Lords as seen from the Members Stand.
Or he would give you the inside track on some new scandal or dubious goings -on in the City.
He always had something new and interesting to tell you, and topics to discuss. And a twinkle of anticipation for the new story!
Perhaps his most loveable characteristic for his friends was his low threshold of pleasure. On telephoning him to suggest some outing, or golf or some other diversion, he was instantly up for it with eager anticipation, only modifying your plans by saying, as he invariably did:- I think we ought to have some lunch.
One of the marks of an old friend, I think, is that however long it is since you have seen them, you greet each other with some light banter with perhaps a couple of gratuitous insults thrown in. This avoids having to enquire after their health, as you will assess this from the vigour of their reply. Such was our style with Tony, and it always provided a stimulating start to the day.
We have yet to realize how much we shall miss him: the good times and the laughter; his sympathetic ear and his help; the colour, the interest, the humorous camaraderie and his zest for life which infected us all;– all this is sadly over-but the memory the happy memory- lingers on. That is why we are here.
It is impossible for me to find the words to sum up our affectionate regard for Tony, so I will borrow the concluding words of a poem that John Betjeman wrote in fond memory of a friend:
A gentle guest, a willing host,
Affection deeply planted,
It’s strange that those we miss the most
Are those we take for granted.
