THE ENTRIES FOR ROGER’S BOOK OF CONDOLENCES, SOME OF WHICH ARE BELOW, MORE TO FOLLOW, SHOW HOW ROGER WAS APPRECIATED, DESPITE THE UPS AND DOWNS HE WENT THROUGH.

 

Roger was a key player in making me the person I am today and I have a lot to thank him for.

Roger taught me how to believe in myself and to live my life to the full. He was an inspiration in the classroom and I was able to learn valuable skills from watching him at work.

Roger introduced me to working as a youth leader which gave me a passion for working with challenging young people. I continue to follow this passion today. He always saw the best in people. He was so highly regarded by students and staff yet shrugged off any complements.  

Roger was a good friend I worked with, holidayed with and socialised with and I shall miss him greatly.

With the fondest of memories and much love, Janet Gascoigne (Mears)

 

Deep Peace

   Deep peace of the running wave to you

Deep peace of the flowing air to you

 Deep peace of the quiet earth to you

   Deep peace of the shining stars to you

                Deep peace of the Son of peace to you forever

 

Love

Sue, Mal, Martin and Claire James

 

 

The three of us [Roger, Alan, Peter Lane] have met up every Summer in recent years to tackle a cycle trip across Northern England. In 2012, following a slow start on the first trip, which was not without mishap for Roger heading South out of Berwick-upon-Tweed, but he

got back on his bike and from then on seemed to find great satisfaction from the challenges of overcoming the never ending hills, wind and rain that are the essence of a cycle tour in Britain. Roger showed great perseverance, determination and a depth of spirit which was at times inspiring for someone who had overcome the physical weakening of fighting cancer.

I will think of Roger in coming years as ( hopefully) I manage to continue summiting the local hills and ridges that made up some of our journeys.

 

Alan Best and Lesley Sutherland  

 

 

Roger was the best of godfathers to me, always caring and interested, and endlessly patient with my slow letter writing. I have many treasured memories of my visits with him as a child and an adult and I will miss him terribly and remember him dearly and with love.

 

Dot Greaves

 

 

 

Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain. 
When you awaken in the morning's hush 
I am the swift uplifting rush
 Of quiet birds in circled flight.
 I am the soft stars that shine at night.
 Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there, I did not die.

Regine von Elling

 

Your letter prompted memories of many happy evenings we spent together during Roger's early years of teaching.

Peter Riley

 

We were good friends at university and kept in touch for a while afterwards. As happens, perhaps too often, decades then slipped by without any contact between us but we've been in touch in recent years and met up a few times in England. Although we weren't regular correspondents I always looked forward to his emails; opinionated and stylishly written they reminded me of when we were both aspiring journalists (sort of!) on the student newspaper. I'll miss him.

Adrian Wynn

 

We were very upset by the news of Roger’s death . I went mountain biking in the summer with Roger in the Harz Mountains and will never forget it. We always greatly enjoyed his company and although we visited him in Celle hospital before we left, we were sad not to have been able to have seen him again. Roger will be sadly missed at Gloucester School.

 

David and Lana Heath

 

We have lovely, happy memories of Roger with his wry sense of humour, getting up to all sorts of escapades when he first arrived in Germany. He was certainly one of the real "characters" in Gloucester School and we know he will be sorely missed.

Sheila and Arthur Maxfield

 

Dave and I shared many happy and also sad times with Roger both as friends (we were next door neighbours in Celle) and as a colleague.  Roger was a great character and one that we will sadly miss.

Roger had a great sense of humour and could see the funny side of most occasions, which always helps when you work with children. Roger and I worked together for nearly 12 years as humanities teachers and in his role as Head of Year. We jointly visited Primary schools in his role as Head of Year and mine as SENCO to prepare pupils for their transition to secondary school. Roger cared deeply for the welfare of his pupils which gained him their love and respect.

Roger had a tendency to be absent- minded which led to some 'interesting' moments, such as forgetting the train tickets for 38 pupils who we were taking on the train in Hamburg as part of our 'Activities Week'. Roger was not to be daunted by such a triviality and briskly marched the pupils on to the train, whilst we prayed that our lack of tickets was not brought to the attention of those in authority by our noisy, over- excited charges!

Roger had great enthusiasm which was illustrated by his garden 'projects', for example when he decided to erect two adjacent wooden sheds which were interlinked by a canopy. Unfortunately, Roger's enthusiasm was out-weighed by his lack of patience with ensuring that the base was level.  The result was two drunken looking sheds and one door that wouldn't close and which swung wildly in the wind!

Apart from the above, what I will remember most about Roger was his bravery and determination, the way he faced up to his cancer and ensuing treatment; the fortitude with which he suffered the tragic loss of Sarah; his love and care for Neal and his determination to continue to live life to the full- in circumstances where I believe most of us would have crumbled.

It was comforting to hear that Roger received such good care and had those that he loved most dearly with him when he died.

 

Linda and Dave Kirby

 

My heart is broken at this terribly sad news. Roger and I had been in contact by email for several years now and I am going to miss him terribly. I am glad to hear that he was well cared for and was surrounded by his loved ones at the very end. I have no words that can ease your grief at this time but you know that he was a good man and a good person. Cherish all your memories of him. 

 

Pat Welsh

 

I always thought he was one of the good 'uns.

 

Les Warren

 

 

Roger was a great support to me when I first started teaching at Gloucester School in  1994. I worked in the History department with him and later (when I had been moved to teach English full-time) in his Key Stage until 2008.  We shared a lot of laughs and a lot of grumblings about the school!  He taught both of my children, and sent cards to each of them when they had to spend time in hospital.  The whole family was very fond of him and it does not seem possible that he will not be there any more.

Nicole Lamb

 

 

 

Rog was probably my first ‘real’ friend – someone who I could confide in, someone I could trust. He was very much a mentor to me – and became a role model on how to lead people to places they were too nervous to take themselves.

I am at an age where memories play tricks, and recalling names, places and events has become something of a faded collage. Rog is the exception – his influence on my appreciation of a world beyond the confines of a small railway town, is as vivid now as it was all those years ago. His stoic attitude to life, mixed with his dry sense of humour, have provided me with a fingerpost to mentor others in the same way he mentored me. I have no doubt that I was not uniquely influenced – so his legacy will, hopefully, go on and on.

Elaine and Pete Horne

 

I was appointed to Roger's Humanities department in 1977 at Oak Farm School as a newly qualified teacher. After my appointment Roger wrote to me to welcome me and it was clear from the onset that here was a man who would not only support me at the beginning of my teaching career, but also guide me with good humour and a sense of fun. He was able to show me how to approach teaching professionally, and at the same time give me the opportunity to use my own creativity and imagination to develop my lessons. On the one hand I remember his capable organisation of a challenging department with a number of newly qualified teachers in addition to myself. His own contribution to the curriculum meant lively, materials using his flair for original presentation, even including his own drawings and cartoons! I soon became aware that he was not your average teacher, but a dedicated practitioner who was passionate about his subject (as shown by his later involvement at regional level with GCSE History). This legacy constantly informed my own subsequent thirty years of teaching and I owe him a lot.

He was instantly a good friend as well as a colleague. He was a regular caller to our house for a cuppa (or something stronger) after work. Roger was an 'uncle' to our daughter and took full advantage of Pattie's haircutting skills! We shared many parties, school trips and even events linked to the school youth club, which I helped to run and to which Roger was always ready to give up his valuable time. 

He knew my parents in Stoke on Trent because on one occasion we travelled north together with his sister Anne, and we shared a passion for soccer - Saints, in particular, Although I now regret that we were unable to meet in Germany where he promised the Munich Beer Festival and soccer at Hanover.

We kept in touch after his move to Germany and he would visit Winchester when he was over visiting his Mum in Eastleigh. He was particularly proud, one year, of his new Saab, yet another treasured car in his line of beloved motors, the first of which I think I remember as a Ford Cortina. On one occasion we were lucky enough to meet Neal. Our thoughts are with him in particular and we send him our fond love and sympathy.

It was clear when we met that Roger was devoted to his family in Germany and I admired his fortitude during the difficult times, both of his daughter's illness and passing away, and his earlier battle with cancer. He seemed to accept his lot with good grace and resolve, as shown more recently by his approach to his now final days.

Although we didn't see Roger as much as we would have liked, Pattie and I treasure the memories of a dear friend of 35 years who is already greatly missed.

 

John and Pattie Price

 

 

Roger and I met in my final year at Christchurch College in Canterbury where I had been doing a 3 year teacher training course and Roger had come to do a 1 year Postgraduate Certificate in Education.  We both completed our studies at the same time and got our first jobs in Saltwood in Kent, he at the local secondary school and I at the village primary school.  It was around 1972/73 and we ended up sharing a flat on the ground floor of a rather grand old country house on the outskirts of the village.  We got on very well.  I remember Roger from those days as an extremely conscientious young teacher who clearly had a passion for his subject and a commitment to do the best for his pupils.  He was in some senses rather a serious young man and enjoyed a good debate about current affairs, politics, religion – just about anything.  I always felt a bit in awe of his intellect. But he also had a wry sense of humour.  He also liked his rock music.  I remember for some reason he was a big fan of Thin Lizzy.  Whenever their name comes up I always think of Roger.  We had some nice times at the flat – sharing our experiences as rookie teachers, going to the village pub on a Friday evening and we had some great parties there.

We both moved on from Saltwood after a couple of years and after that our communication became increasingly sporadic.  I think we would probably have kept in touch more if he had remained in England but after he moved to Germany it was not so easy to keep in touch.  He did come to see us in Mersea a couple of times in recent years and he would have been welcome at any time.  As it was we had sporadic bursts of correspondence interspersed with long periods of silence.  I last heard from him in early January this year when it was clear he was very poorly.  We then exchanged a few emails over the coming weeks and I sent him some pictures of the family which he seemed to enjoy.  My last email to him was 25 January and strangely enough I had started to draft a note to him just this week to see how things were, so it was a great shock to hear your news this morning.

He has not had an easy life.  He deserved better.  He was a good friend to me in those early years and I will always look back on those times with great warmth.

 Peter Duerden

 

 

 

Lester has known Roger since 1974 as a colleague and friend as part of the team of young teachers working at Oak Farm. Lester shared his house for 7 years. The Oak Farm group created significant memories such as the famous Black Pudding Trip which was filmed by Roger and later converted to DVD for us all to enjoy. Once Roger moved to Germany we were pleased to stay in touch and visit on several occasions. We came to his wedding, visited his school on the base and stayed in the house in Celle with the family. He even turned up briefly here a few years ago in his Winnebago!

Lester and Ann