Ken Lown provided Recollection #2 here and kept in touch by letter with Old Pastonians.  RIP

​16 April 1923 - 2 August 2019
Dr Ken Lown, who passed away in August 2019, was born in Sheringham, the youngest child and only son of Hilda (nee Frankling) and Harry Lown.  Ken attended the Paston Grammar for his secondary education.
The outbreak of war in 1939 and the call up of many of Paston’s male teachers, disrupted Ken’s plans to continue at school.  His ambition was to study medicine.  Ken was too young to join up, so he made the decision to leave school and take work in a bank in Norwich.  As soon as he was able he joined the RNVR and saw service as an observer with the Fleet Air Arm (1941-1946).

On release from service, Ken was offered a place to study medicine at the London Hospital.  He qualified in 1953.  By then he was married to Monica, who hailed from Norwich, and with their family they moved to Westgate-on-Sea where Ken has secured a position to practice as a GP.  He was to stay in the Thanet area for the rest of his life, as a much loved and well respected member of the local community.  His hobbies and interests were legion, but usually had some connection with all things nautical, as one would expect of a lad from Sheringham.

When Ken was given to talking of his school days at “the Paston” it was always with great affection.  He could still give a good rendition of the old school song when he was well into his nineties.  He did mention that one of Paston’s more famous pupils was none other than Admiral, Lord Nelson – but hastened to add, with a twinkle in his eye, that he and the man who led the victory at Trafalgar did not attend the school at the same time.  There was also a story about catching the train to North Walsham, and the Paston boys stowing away the North Walsham High school girls in the luggage racks above the seats.  Post exam high jinks? A daily ritual?  We never quite got to the bottom of that one and he never did tell.

Ken passed away in Broadstairs during the afternoon of 2 August.  He is survived by his 3 children, 5 grandchildren and his great grandson, Ryan.
 
Supplied by Bridget Lown Evans (daughter) on behalf of all the Lown family

28th August 2018
Well loved French Teacher, Fisherman, Husband, Father...
From Kathryn...
"Sadly Robbie (as we knew him) died yesterday in the Norfolk and Norwich. It was peaceful with my mum and I with him. I would be grateful if you would let any old Pastonians know. There is a message on Facebook but obviously not everyone uses Social Media "

We will miss Marty. RIP
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Update: Marty's funeral was Friday 21st September 2018 at Cromer Crematorium. A non- religious ceremony (his specific request) well marked with standing room only. Lovely tribute by son Peter and his angling fraternity. Coffin adourned with 'Gone Fishing' (to the pond printed on the casket).

​OBITUARY 
(Thanks to Frank Sharp for providing this - it is a couple of years old at the time of inclusion, but many of you may have known Philip.  And it is an interesting orbituary that I think he would have been proud to share with Old Boys - ed).


Philip Rushmer, a giant among west Auckland GPs, whose determination to improve the region's health services inspired four practices to combine into a single integrated health centre, died this month (Feb 2014) after a seven-year battle with cancer. He was 71.

Visionary thinking, sincere leadership and an unending dedication to his patients typify Dr Rushmer's medical career. These qualities were poignantly illustrated as he chaired his final HealthWEST meeting from his living room, just over a week before his death.

Sitting in a La-Z-Boy chair in his Titirangi home, the thoughtful, articulate doctor, who treated generations of the same families, resigned from the leadership post of the social services organisation he had held since 2007.

"I have been to many board meetings over the years with many organisations, but every part of that meeting I will remember vividly," HealthWEST chief executive Aroha Hudson says.

At the meeting's conclusion, Ms Hudson presented Dr Rushmer with a pounamu manaia. "It acts as a provider and a protector, and is likened to a bird sitting on your shoulder looking after one's spirit, and when your time comes it will guide your spirit where it is supposed to go," she says.

Dr Rushmer was born 24 May 1942 and grew up on a farm in the rural English village of Toft Monks, Norfolk. His father William died when Dr Rushmer was seven, leaving his mother Sybil to raise four children.

"[Sybil's] love of music was inherited by the family and Philip enjoyed a passion for classical music and opera that lasted a lifetime," says Penny Rushmer, Dr Rushmer's widow.

After completing schooling at Paston School, Dr Rushmer was accepted to study medicine at Guy's Hospital in central London. In 1966, while still training, he met Penny, whom he married in 1968.

Dr Rushmer's general practice career began in the rural community of Candover Valley, in Hampshire. By 1976, he had become disillusiouned with the UK's National Health Service and, on the recommendations of locums who had come through his practice, his family packed their bags and moved to Titirangi, west Auckland, where he joined Golf Road Medical Centre.

In 1982, GP Vicky Macdonald and her new husband had just moved to Golf Rd, and Dr Macdonald needed to find a general practice placement as part of her Primex exam. Her husband suggested dropping in to the medical centre down the road.

She entered the practice looking for a six-week locum, met Dr Rushmer, and walked out a co-owner.

Dr Macdonald worked alongside Dr Rushmer for the following three decades, and says he was consistent and unwavering in his fairness and optimism.

"In all that time we never had any arguments or disagreements. We were able to sit down and work through issues and, most of the time, Philip was able to convince me his way was correct," she laughs.

Indeed, Dr Rushmer's exceptional negotiating skills saw him take up several general practice leadership posts throughout his career.

One of his early roles was as chair of the NZMA Maternity Services Negotiating Committee. Dr Rushmer was a staunch advocate for the role of GPs in obstetrics and he fought for the rights of women to be given the choice of who delivered their babies, remembers west Auckland GP Jonathan Simon.

Dr Rushmer was inaugural chair of the NZMA GP Council in 1998, following the demise of the General Practitioners' Association, and held the role until 2001. He then served on the NZMA board for several years, before turning his political attention to his own west Auckland neighbourhood. He joined the board of HealthWEST in 2006 and become chair the following year.

For his contribution to general practice, Dr Rushmer was made a distinguished fellow of the RNZCGP in 2011. "Philip is known as a treasured source of wisdom and compassion, and is selfless and dedicated to the medical profession," the college said at the time.

At the age most people consider retiring, Dr Rushmer was finding his second wind.
He could see problems in the way health services were being delivered to west Aucklanders and, with fellow GP Peter Woolford, he began canvassing opinion among GPs in the area about joining forces.

In September 2007, with Drs Woolford and Macdonald, plus GPs Craig King and Maelen Tagelagi, he

began planning a medical centre that would offer something the individual practices could not.

The result is Totara Health Services, an enormous integrated family health centre offering

general practice, specialist and social services in the heart of New Lynn. 

At the practice opening last June, in front of a 100-strong crowd which included prime minister John Key, Dr Rushmer reiterated the vision for patient-centred care he shared with his colleagues, and called out Waitemata DHB for dropping the ball in meeting the community's needs.

"To the DHB, I say let's work together to improve your engagement with primary practice, and focus on putting the patient first," he said.

Dr Rushmer was unafraid to step on a few toes, but it was always in the interests of his patients, Dr Woolford says. He wanted to leave a legacy that would ensure his patients' healthcare was the best it could possibly be.

Dr Rushmer was battling cancer throughout the clinic's development. In 2007, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and, after beating it, he received a bladder cancer diagnosis two years later.

Yet, he persevered in his work. Dr Woolford says Dr Rushmer was always putting his hand up to fill in at Totara Health Services, and ran clinics until his illness forced him to retire. He was showing a Health Workforce New Zealand representative around the practice just 10 days before he died.

More than 300 people attended Dr Rushmer's funeral service at Davis Funerals in Henderson earlier this month. He was described by colleagues and patients as dignified, gracious, a true gentleman.

He was buried wearing the pounamu manaia gifted to him by HealthWEST.

On the service programme, Dr Rushmer is pictured grinning and holding a cigar. The caption reads

"Do what you love". It's a mantra which, by all accounts, Dr Rushmer lived his life by.

"I attended school from 1945-1949. Just saws the 1947 class pic. and recognized Col. Marshall, and Messrs. Cutting, Grantham-Hill, Skerrett-Rodgers, Brown, Couper, Lachlan and Pierce. I served in the Royal Navy for 12 years then emigrated t to the USA where I've lived in New York City since 1962. Retired from working as a Public Information Officer for city, state and federal governments. Came to the reunion in 2005 and saw only Slipper and Sommerville. 

Anyone else out there from my time?

I have run a community theatre here (NY) for the past ten years (http://www.holytrinity-nyc.org/   Triangle Theatre)
-Dudley.

Note: Dudley admits to being inspired by his involvement in the 1948 production of J.B. Priestley's "Laburnum Grove" with the Paston Drama Group - being understudy and 'prompter' (vital I am sure).  He says he cant actually remember it though but since went on to work in TV and Film for over 50 years, with a Best Actor award performing in Patrick Hamilton's "Rope" in Paris.  Way to go Dudley.

Reply via comment here to make contact and say hello.

Sadly, Ivor Kiddle passed away Saturday 14th February 2015.

Ivor had not been well for a few months, although remained very active in many capacities up to last Summer.
Ivor William Courtenay Kiddle, 1925 - 2015

 
http://www.vertikal.net/en/news/story/22148/ 

Sad news to impart. Roger MacPhee, well loved Chemistry Tutor,died last night  (11th Jan 2015) whilst in North Walsham Cottage Hospital.
​
https://www.familynotices24.co.uk/edp/view/3656889/roger-hunter-macphee 

Chemistry at Paston for many years, Pastor in Paston for many more. All round great person, inspired and encouraged many.

AFAIK, Roger had not been well for some time.  Many tributes on the Paston FB page HERE.

(Courtesy of Peter, September 2014)

Lovely to see an Old Pastonians web site. I am Canon Peter Nicholson OBE MA of Uxbridge and I was at Paston from 1935-42 (Nelson House)

I remember well the dedication of the organ donated by Revd Willis Feast and I remember well Ken Lown’s solo. I am almost 89 and a former governor of the school during Colonel Marshall’s headship. I was vicar of Wroxham and Hoveton at the time and was nominated by the Bishop of Norwich.

Mr Grantham Hill tried hard to teach me maths but it was all very much beyond me. N S Lachlan taught Latin and went on to Radley College. P J Pearce was a superb science teacher and, when he was called up into the Royal Navy, his wife carried on in the lab. Of course, I remember the days of “Rod” Hare in the lab and how he would administer the cane in front of a class if a misbehaving boy was sent to him. I was once present at one of these occurrences. Captain Brown taught woodwork and metalwork. I remember making an egg stand. Emma Lumb taught art and English Literature (Julius Caesar, Pride and Prejudice and all that) George Couper taught history and Geography and P T. P C Birkinshaw taught us English Grammar very well

David Manwaring’s father taught us French. He would sometimes doze off but when awake he was very accurate with the board rubber! Major Pickford taught religion on Saturday mornings.  Ivor Nicholson taught maths in my early days. He came from Australia and when he returned to Britain he would hire a caravan and come and take root in our various gardens (Norfolk, Lyme Regis etc.) Crushers Hare taught geography and history to the seniors. There was a page at the back of our report books which said “Achievements while at the school”  My page on leaving said “corporal in the cadet corps”  When I was stationed in Deolali in  India I heard a familiar voice shouting orders at a squad. It was Wilkin, at school with me. I called out “Halt and his squad obeyed instantly. He looked round and was astonished to see me standing there. Small world!

During the war senior boys acted as fire watchers, sitting by rote in the staff room (and sneaking a look at the mark books to see how we were doing)  One night a farmer’s son brought some eggs and we stole down into the lab to fry them over a bunsen burner. Little did we know that the headmaster’s wife was still up and about. She came down to the lab and ordered us back to our task. We thought we would be caned but she obviously did not tell Major Pickford (head master)  When I became precentor of Peterborough Cathedral a party from North Walsham came to visit and I was deputed to show them round. The last person through the door was Mrs Pickford. She said “Ah! Nicholson!  I bet they don’t let you fry eggs in here”

I was in the same form as Ivor Kiddle, Bobby Cotton, David Manwaring and others. The “Singing Postman”  was a boy at the school. Without his glasses he was as blind as a bat! David went on to be a top statistician in the Government.

I spent my last thirteen working years as administrator of the Church’s hospital in Fitzroy Square, London – a very happy time. Ivor came and called on me there one day.

How I wish I could travel up to the Dinner but having had two knee joint replacements I just cannot manage it. I was President of the OP for a year and, when I was in Norfolk, I attended the annual events and lustily sang the school song (from memory!)

Happy, Happy days. Good cadet corps band.  During the war when bells were not allowed to be rung, a boy called Rawlings sounded a bugle call to mark the end of lessons. Of course, the old M & G N was running in those days and we caught the 4.24 home
 
Congratulations and best wishes for the web site. (I still have five blazer buttons)
 
Peter Nicholson
Postscript:
I think Revd Willis Feast gave the organ to the school because he bought it for Booton church and then the parishioners would not pay for it. Norman (Kiffy) Cutting played the organ and taught Teddy Bygraves and Mike Colman to play it. Kiffy came from Stalham where his father was a doctor. He was so mad on playing for so long each day as a boy that his parents had to lock up the piano. He had the early forms in the assembly hall on a FrIday afternoon (last lesson) where he taught us all the old patriotic songs like “Up with the Jolly Roger Boys” 

I forgot to say that when I first went to Paston, Teddy Drakes took swimming. He put me in a cradle and took me down to the deep end. I was scared out of life and that stopped me from learning to swim until I was in the army. I then thought I ought to learn as I might find myself at sea in a convoy and we might be torpedoed. So I learned to swim in the pool at Sandes Home in Catterick where I was in training for the Royal Corps of Signals. I was in a convoy in the Atlantic for about five days and we lost a destroyer! The East Lancashire Regiment used to use the school quad for morning drill and we had a good time watching them. Parmiter’s School from London were evacuated to N W for a short time and, when we had a huge snowstorm, we had a pitched battle with them with snowballs. Unfortunately the headmaster came into the back gate and caught one of them so snowballing was stopped there and then.

When we had a frost there was a gigantic slide down the middle of the quad and, of course, water was poured on it to freeze during the night so the slide was even longer in the morning. There came a time when “willies” were all the go!  These were knotted pieces of cord and almost everyone had one. You would suddenly get a fling of one across your backside and that was very painful. So, one morning at the end of assembly, the headmaster said “I now want you to pass by this door and leave your willies on the stage”  There was an almighty pile of them I can tell you. I believe that someone said there were no school dinners in the assembly hall. Well, I remember the first school dinners there and they were cooked by the assistant groundsman’s wife. Miss Lumb came and sat at my table and, one day, when I mistakenly passed the first plate down the table instead of serving her first, she said “Haven’t you forgotten something, Nicholson?”  

George Ward was the caretaker and he cleaned the classrooms after school as well as taking his vast motor mower all over the playing field. Because it was wartime, we dug up quite a big area of the lower field to plant potatoes. The head would come down at lunchtime and dig with us. Because it was wartime too, we made “Molotov cocktails” in the lab for use in an invasion.

They were made with petrol and oil with a rag sticking out of the neck of the bottle.Of course, we tried one or two out on the field before handing them over to the Home Guard. I have fantastic memories of school. One of my proudest moments was being invited to preach on Founder’s Day when my son, Timothy, who was a boy at the school and in Nelson House too, carried the processional cross in front of the choir.
Happy, happy days. I loved every minute of it.

Dear Old Pastonians, 

Percy reached his ‘terminal moraine’ last Friday and died peacefully at the British Legion Home in Cromer (Halsey House) after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.

Peter Herbert Williams born April 2nd 1925, died March 7th 2014.

Best regards
John Williams

Feel free to share reminiscences.  And further detail will be approved/posted here or found on the OP Facebook page

Funeral at St Faiths Crematorium, 24th March, 10:15pm.   Notify Funeral Directors if you can/plan to attend.
http://www.familynotices24.co.uk/national/view/3377250/peter-williams 

Sadly Doker passed away this week.  Age 92.  Will be fondly remembered.  Funeral at St Faiths (Crematorium?) on 4th March 0845am.
Taught me English, and life stories in general, especially some wartime Lancaster ones, and shared his appreciation of Jazz, as a Sax player.

Philip D. Havercroft  (“Doker”)  He was born in Bridlington in 1921.   He retired in July 1981 (though I don't recall him going before I left in 82 ?).   Lived in West Runton many years.

RIP

Addendum / Eulogy
Having attended Doker's funeral with family and friends, 4th March.  Peter provided a copy of the Eulogy very well delivered by Jane, and it is included it here - Doker would have liked that.  A moving testimony and lots of information that Old Boys would not be expected to have known previously:

Dad was born in Bridlington,  on the Yorkshire coast in 1921.
He didn’t have an easy start  as his mother died when he was just three weeks old.
His aunt Frida moved from Cornwall to bring him up, ably assisted by Jenny who became the rock in his life.
He always fondly remembered their house on the cliffs, playing on the beach and his exploits with older brother Ralph.
When Dad was ten,  his life in Bridlington ended when his father died.  In straightened circumstances,   he moved to Hull with Ralph and Aunt Frida.  Hull was so different from Bridlington – then a large, dirty and industrial city.
As a teenager, Dad showed the qualities and interests that were to characterise the rest of his life.
He was good at languages, played rugby and took up the saxophone.  Playing jazz in those days was seen as dangerous and radical but it was his lifelong passion.

As for so many people,  the Second World War changed everything.  He joined the RAF and, after training as a navigator and observer,  served in the Middle East.    He was part of the crucial battle of Alamein and was awarded a Mentioned in Dispatches  – a measure of both the danger and the contribution that he,  and the rest of 223 squadron, made. 

After the war, he studied hard and got into Cambridge   to do his English degree.   It was in Cambridge that he met Isobel and they married in 1954.   Dad had just got a job as an English master at the Paston School in North Walsham  -  a job he would keep for his whole career. 

He put a huge amount of energy and emotion into his teaching.   The boys nicknamed him Doker.
And he helped them run a music club and a newsletter called the Daily Register.
He also  ran a jazz band called Miscellany which played venues including the Little Theatre in Sheringham.


He very much appreciated the letters he got in later life from old boys of the school who reflected favourably on his influence on their early years.  Many also remembered how he threw chalk and board rubbers to get their attention! 

Immediately after their marriage, Mum and Dad settled in West Runton.  The quirky house called Westwood     became his home for 60 years. 


They had four children – Jane (that’s me),  Clare,  Pete and Alan.


Due to heart problems,    Dad took early retirement at the age of 60 when the Paston School  was going to be transformed  into a sixth form college.   It was probably one of the best things he ever did [healthwise].


So what did he do in retirement?
There were the jazz bands,  including the Phil Havercroft Quartet,  which played in local hotels and pubs.
And holidays to Greece  where he honed his knowledge of Retsina and Greek culture, both ancient and modern. He drew masterful humorous cartoons and wrote poetry.
And he read.... Everything from the works of the ancient Greeks to modern American  poets and always his beloved Homer,  an almost daily source of inspiration

He loved to learn, acquiring a phenomenal depth of knowledge, for example in sports such as cricket and rugby,  even teaching himself all the rules of American football.  He taught himself Greek,  Russian and Mandarin and he used to consider chess puzzles  light reading! 

And then there was his expanding family.  He and Mum welcomed our partners including Paul and Cecy.  
Dad loved his grandchildren too -  Megan, James, Alec and Owen-  and imparted his own brand of wisdom to them.
But there were losses too - Alan’s early death then Mum suddenly in 2008. He never expected her to go first but coped extraordinary well with his loss.  He found comfort in writing poetry and by staying at Westwood,     the house they had shared all their married life.  He was determined to end his days there and was supported in this  by his family, neighbours and carers.  He remained cheerful and stoic to the end,  always taking an interest in people’s lives whether it was their service life, their upbringing abroad or some other topic of interest like the cricket!

It’s hard to summarise him  in a few words but here’s an attempt.
He was:
Lively,  Intellectual
Resilient and  Determined
Funny and Convivial
A natural linguist
A jazz fan
A raconteur


And a big character.

May he rest in peace.