Sadly, we must advise of the sudden death of John on Monday, 11th January 2016. The funeral service was on 20th January at St Constantine Church, Wetheral, Cumbria where Alan Roberts gave the eulogy.
John and Alan arrived at Huddersfield New College in the same term and played in the successful Huddersfield New College Rugby XV in the early 1960s, which was managed and coached by club and Cheshire player Ron Capper. A number of the team went forward to play club rugby, John and Alan with David Elstone played for Huddersfield, contemporaries John Berry for Gloucester and David Walker at Waterloo.
The camaraderie of the team was exceptional and the New College Rugby Association met annually in Huddersfield until recent years at the George Hotel and then at Lockwood Park.
John qualified as a civil engineer and joined British Rail in York, where he continued his rugby as open side flanker with York RI. In later years his business career took him to Fiji, Somalia, Libya and Houston, Texas.
His children Rebecca and Ben attended the service with their mother Jane, his son-in-law and two grand children.
The club’s condolences have been passed to the family.
