OBITUARIES

hotter the shrapnel the higher the prize! He walked two miles to and from school, often finding streets closed off by bomb damage.

He entered Latymer at nine years old, where he flourished in the drama classes. He performed in many Shakespearian plays at Latymer, usually preferring the role of the buffoon!

David wanted to work in the burgeoning television industry, but family pressure redirected his efforts into the aircraft industry, apprenticing and working for Vickers Armstrong. He arrived in Seattle in 1968, where he worked for Boeing, and went back home a year later to marry Madeleine on the eve of the USA landing on the moon.

He helped with the Seattle Opera company and then, with Madeleine and their young son Michael, made the move to the small town of Puyallup, where he worked on the design team of the Boeing 757 and then in customer service, which allowed him to travel widely.

He had a passion for cinema organ music, eventually joining the Mount Baker Theatre Organ Club. Church and faith were essential to his life; he was presented with the Bishops Cross service award in 2020 by Anglican Bishop Kevin Allen.

David had a quirky sense of humour, and he never lost his English accent! He became a citizen of the United States in 1980 and kept many good friends whom he cherished, never letting a birthday go by without a card.

We are grateful to Keith’s cousin, Graham OLLIS (1982), for informing us of this sad news.

At Latymer, Keith was Head of Boats and School Captain. He stayed in touch with the school community and is credited by a friend, Colin EADES (1965) for encouraging him to reconnect with the School.

Keith and Colin met by chance in their town, Hitchin, Hertfordshire and bonded over their Latymer connection. Keith was a stalwart Hitchin Town FC supporter and volunteer and was known for his work around the local community; in 2021, he helped organise the Dell at Woodside – a crowdfunding project to turn a disused pit in the centre of town into a stunning open-air theatre. Without his vision and passion for the project, it almost certainly would not have happened.

Keith was also known for his fantastic firework and pyrotechnics displays that he put on for the community each year. His passing is a huge loss not only to his family and friends, but to the community and the arts, events, and entertainment business he worked in.

dashed by his less than perfect eyesight; so he became a radar operator.

He met his wife, Pam, in 1956 at a dance in Wimbledon. They moved to Leatherhead where they brought up their family of three children, and Ernie went on to become a grandfather and great grandfather.

Despite living outside London, Ernie held a Fulham FC season ticket for much of his life, still attending evening matches in his late eighties. After Pam died in 1992, Ernie went on to rebuild the Latymer connection via a close 16-year friendship with Jean Osborne, whose son Alistair OSBORNE (1981) attended the school, as did his children, Joe OSBORNE (2015) and Nicolas OSBORNE (2018). Ernie remained fit and active, still swimming three times a week until the Covid outbreak. He passed away in October 2022, just a month before his 92nd birthday.

n Alan Howard Cousens BEARD (1946) We are grateful to Alan’s son, John Beard, for the following tribute.

Alan was born in 1928 in Hounslow, joining Latymer in 1939, just as war was declared. His years at the school were spent under the dark clouds of the Second World War, and indeed his first few months were actually spent in Slough when the whole school was evacuated.

His class returned to Hammersmith in 1940, just in time to experience the horrors of the Blitz. Alan recalled doing his homework in an air raid shelter. In spite of this, Alan thoroughly enjoyed his time at Latymer, forming many lifelong friendships. He was a particularly good sportsman, captaining the cricket First XI in his final year.

Leaving school in 1946, Alan’s hopes of going to university were thwarted by the high demand for places from the servicemen returning from the war. He undertook his national service, commencing in 1947, and joined the Royal Engineers. In North Africa, he spent time guarding German POWs from Hitler’s Africa Corps still there two years after the war had ended. He played cricket and football against the Germans on a sports ground nicknamed the Benghazi Oval.

Returning to civilian life, Alan embarked on his career, qualifying as a Chartered Civil Engineer in 1953. He joined a large international construction company and became a director of three of its subsidiaries.

Alan’s connection with Latymer continued as he became a prominent member of the Old Latymerian sports club at Whitton, playing cricket in the first XI for many years. It was at Whitton that Alan met his first wife Jacquie who was a member of the tennis section. They married in 1955 in Hounslow and had two children. Sadly, Jacquie died from cancer in 1995.

n Ernie MAYNARD (1947)

We are grateful to Jane Yettram for the following tribute

Born on 27th November 1930, Ernest William Maynard grew up in Fulhamhome to the football club that became a lifelong passion. The eldest of three children, Ernie’s schooling was interrupted by the Second World War, though he was lucky not to be evacuated. Home-schooling proved no bar to him winning a scholarship to Latymer, where he was a keen sportsman, even playing for the Old Latymerians in later years.

After school, Ernie joined the National Australia Bank, where he spent almost his entire career until his retirement in 1991. It was interrupted by national service in the RAF, where his hopes of becoming a pilot were

At Burhill Golf Club in Surrey Alan met his second wife, Mary. They had a wonderful life together until Alan’s passing at the age of 94.

Alan was immensely proud of being educated at Latymer Upper School and subsequently maintained a keen interest in the school and the Old Latymerian Association, both of which played an important part in his life.

n Bryan RUSSELL (1958)

We are grateful to Michael WATERS (1958) for the following tribute.

While at Latymer, Bryan joined the Combined Cadet Force (CCF), where he met John NICHOLLS (1958). Together with his long-time friend, Michael WATERS (1958), Bryan used to cycle over to John’s home in Ruislip, where he met Joan, John’s sister, who later became Bryan’s wife.

Bryan enjoyed motorbikes and graduated from a bike to a 500cc AJS and then moved on to an SS Jaguar. Stuart PARKER (1959) tells the story of when Bryan fitted a full set of white metal bearings to the Jag before they set out for the evening. Bryan eventually settled down and got a Triumph sports car!

After school, Bryan joined the Paras (TA) in the RMP provost company based in Shepherds Bush. He subsequently transferred to the SAS (TA) Squadron based in Chelsea.

Bryan qualified as a surveyor and worked all over the UK on roads and tunnels. He also spent some time working in Bangladesh, but there was considerable unrest at the time and ex-pats were advised to leave. Bryan had been up country and arrived at the port to find the last boat was boarding. He found that all potential passengers’ names were being added laboriously to a handwritten list. Bryan told the officials that he could type and offered to help. Then he added his name to the list!

Bryan, Joan, and their two children subsequently moved to South Africa. My wife and I visited Joan and Bryan in 1991 when they were living close to Cape Town. We watched Bryan racing one of his cars and, surprisingly found that Bryan shared Joan’s love of line dancinghe even wore cowboy boots which went well with his moustache!

We visited them again in 2019. Bryan told us he had Parkinsons, but he had retained his sense of humour, was still driving too fast, was still enthusiastically exploring new ideas and was keen to demonstrate his softwarecontrolled kit for printing solid objects. It was a pleasure and privilege to be counted as one of Bryan’s friends.

Basil WALBY (1946)

We are grateful to Stanley DUNCAN (1946) for the following tribute

Basil died on 5th November 2022 in Melbourne, Australia aged 94. He joined Latymer following the outbreak of war in 1939, travelling daily to join the school in Slough, where it had moved at the start of the war. For safety reasons it was decided to re-open the school at Hammersmith in September 1940 for boys under 14 still in London. From that time until the end of the war in 1945 the school operated in two parts; Basil spent the whole of WWII in London and in the Blitz.

Basil has written amusingly about Latin lessons in the basement shelters, of the time the Chemistry class all hid in the cupboards under the worktops, and of the time he arrived back at school to find a hole where the gymnasium had been the day before. The later V1 and V2 attacks in 1944 were conveniently timed to take place during exam time.

Basil was an opening bat in the cricket First X1 and later played for the Old Latymerians. He also became Flight Sergeant and senior NCO in the school’s Air Training Corps squadron. On leaving school in 1946 he attended King’s College London to study Maths and Chemistry. After which, he carried out his National Service in Germany at a time of considerable tension between the Occupying Powers. He was also obliged to spend a further two years in the Territorial Army, which included parading at the Queen’s 1953 Coronation.

He followed his deep interest in science by finding a career in scientific publishing. In 1971 he accepted an appointment in this field in Melbourne, Australia, where he chose to live for the rest of his life. He was a Councillor of the Royal Society of Victoria and a member of the Australian Latymerian Council.

n Richard Easener (1955)

We are grateful to Richard’s daughter, Antonia, for the following tribute

After leaving Latymer, Richard, better known as Dick, started his career with Lloyds Insurance in London, where he remained until signing up to join the RAF. He travelled widely in this role, including a short period of active service in the Middle East where, on a blind date, a friend introduced him to Jan who later became his wife.

They married in 1963, and wanting to provide a stable home life for the family they had planned together, he resigned from the RAF, to start a career, which became his true passion; Air Traffic Control.

His three children were born during the remaining 1960s and early 1970s, and in 1972 he moved the family from Eaglesham, Glasgow to Hungerford in Berkshire, having successfully obtained a transfer to the London Air Traffic Control Centre, where he saw out the rest of his career.

Retiring in 2006, as a Supervisor, he was fortunate enough to enjoy a long and happy retirement, during which he studied for qualifications in Russian and Latin.

He was a very kind, intelligent, and loving man. A wonderful husband to Jan, and the best father Marc, Nick, and Antonia could ever have wished for.

n Albert ‘Ken’ WORTH (1943)

We are grateful to Ken’s granddaughter, Laura, for the following tribute

Ken left Latymer in 1940 at the age of 15 to train as a pilot and join the war effort during WWII; he loved it so much that he didn’t want to come back to base. He became a flight gunner and signals leader rising to the rank of Flight Lieutenant.

In total, he served in the Air Force for six and a half years, travelling around the world, only returning to Britain for D-Day. In 2016 he was awarded France’s highest honour, the French Legion D’Honneur for his role in the liberation of France.

After leaving the RAF, Ken worked as an assistant to a Surgeon in Harley Street. He ultimately decided that the medical training would take too long so went into brewing, running Truman’s Brewery in Brick Lane.

Ken left an indelible imprint on the lives of many, none more so than his family. After wooing and marrying Maureen Riley in 1951, he had four children, seven grandchildren and eight great grandchildren. An amazing array of stories to tell, a good glass of wine or single malt, an endless supply of quick cheeky wit, words of wisdom and great company for any party to be had – there are many things for which Ken will be remembered.

Ken passed away peacefully and in the presence of his family four days before his 98th birthday on the 8th of January 2023.

Borrowing the words of one of Ken’s beloved Jazz legends, Nat King Cole, Ken truly was “Unforgettable in every way. And forever more, that’s how he’ll stay”.