n Terence Alan Frank ATKINS (1953) n Derek George ATKINSON FCCA (1945) Derek remained heavily involved with Latymer long after leaving for a career in accountancy and management, qualifying as a Company Secretary. He was a regular at the Latymerians’ Dinner, his family estimate he attended over 50 of them. He joined the Alumni Tennis Club in 1947 and became Club Treasurer, Derek George Atkinson progressing on to join the Old Latymerian Association’s committee, where he served as Secretary for 11 years. He was a supporter of the School’s Bursaries Appeal. At school during WW2, he joined the Cadet Corps rising to Under Officer. On leaving Latymer he enlisted in the Middlesex Regiment’s Cadet Battalion, receiving a commission and commanding several units, then rose to Staff Officer. He received the Cadet Force Medal in 1957. He maintained his military connections after resigning, when his family arrived, by auditing their accounts and founding the Officers’ Club. He is survived by his wife, Betty, and by his son, Graham, and daughters, Jenny and Sue, and their families. n Edwin Taflin BEZANT (1940) n Geoffrey Bruce BROUGHTON BSc MPhil (1962) Geoffrey was a well-respected gentleman, a church worshipper and a family man who will be missed by his wife, Brenda, children, grandchildren, sisters, nephews and their families. Geoffrey obtained his BSc in Mechanical Engineering at the Geoffrey Bruce University of Birmingham, where in Broughton 1964 he met Brenda. They married and moved to London where Geoffrey conducted research in the Department of Anaesthetics at the Royal College of Surgeons, obtaining his MPhil through the University of London. In 1969, they moved to Toronto, Canada with their first child, and then as the family grew, they moved to British Columbia (BC), living first in Richmond and later in Tsawwassen. Geoffrey’s career had begun with Orenda Engines Ontario, and then continued in BC in the maintenance departments at Pacific Western Airlines, CP Air, Canadian Airlines, and finally Air Canada. He moved into management positions and eventually was the Director of Maintenance and Engineering until he retired, in 2001. Retirement was spent in Lake Country in the Okanagan. Geoffrey enjoyed hiking and being out in nature. He had a lifelong love of trains and was still in the midst of designing and building his own model railway at home. He volunteered at the Lake Country Museum, and has also left his family the extensive legacy of his many hours of work on their family genealogy.
n Richard Anthony CURTIS LLM (1980) Richard studied law at University College, Cardiff (University of Wales) and later gained his Master’s at SOAS, London. He entered the Inns of Court law school and was called to the Bar in 1984. He rose to be a Principal Crown Prosecutor for the CPS, responsible for undertaking the prosecution of serious and Richard Curtis complex fraud committed within London working closely with the Metropolitan Police, the City of London Police and Department of Trade and Industry. He then joined Standard Chartered Bank as Regional Head of Legal and Compliance for Africa, Middle East and South Asia. A particularly difficult period was Sierra Leone during the civil war. He won the Banker Magazine Award for Anti-Money Laundering because of his work in Africa. In 2006, Richard joined Essex County Council as Head of Legal for Commercial and Property and then left to be a managing partner with Curtis and Curtis and acting as a legal administrator for his mother-in-law’s nursing home.
OBITUARIES
We mark the passing of the following Latymerians who have sadly passed away recently.
He married Caroline in 1992 and had three children. They celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in 2017. He was a kind, loyal and generous person to his friends and family and always had a great sense of humour. He suffered ill health for a long time, but always prioritised others ahead of himself. n Gerald Arthur CHAMPNISS OBE FRMetS (1936) Gerry’s career in aviation began as a pilot during WW2. He joined the RAF and completed his training in St. Catharine’s, Canada. Stationed in Montreal, he was a member of Ferry Command; the legendary flying unit that delivered warplanes to the areas where they were needed. He later worked for the British Government in the Middle East in the early 1950s, most notably in Bahrain as an Aerodrome Commander, for which he was recognised with an MBE. In the 1960s, he joined Gerald Arthur the British Airports Authority Champniss (BAA), eventually becoming Deputy Director of Safety and Operations for all British airports. In the New Year’s honours of 1978, he was made an OBE. In 1984, at his retirement party his BAA colleagues called him, “the most well-known man in British aviation”. Gerry was proud of his Latymer years. He enrolled three of his sons at the School: Waynne (1964), Alex (1970), and Kim (1973). Gerry passed away in Worthing, Sussex aged 98 on 22 December 2018. n Eric COPSON MA (1941) Eric left Latymer early after gaining a scholarship to study languages at King’s College, Cambridge. He completed a year of study before joining the Officer Cadet Training Unit and, by December 1942, was trained as an Infantry Officer and soon joined the RAF. Eric went on to play a very important role as a codebreaker. After training at Bletchley Park, he was stationed in the Far East and, on the morning of 14 August 1945, was brought the latest Japanese intercept. He stripped it down to the original Japanese and, upon
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