Alan was born in Salisbury in 1934. He was raised and schooled there and helped in his father’s bakery business delivering bread and no doubt overfilling the doughnuts with jam to be enjoyed around the Salisbury area.
27th June 1934 – 30th December 2022
At the start of his career, he went to work for Barclays where he met his future wife, Jean. Whilst working for Barclays, he went to work abroad in Kenya where he obviously thought a lot about Jean as he wrote to her, asking if she would like to live abroad. That must have been a leading question as on his return on leave, he formally proposed to Jean on New Year’s Eve in 1958 and they were married the following Valentine’s Day, just 45 days later - once Alan decided to do something, he did not hang about.
He then worked in Nigeria and whilst there, two sons were born, followed by another son born during a brief visit to England. They moved to Zambia in 1969 and a daughter was born during their time there, completing their family.
Alan joined the Lions in 1971 while in Zambia and four years later was elected Governor of District 413, Zambia, for 1975-76. Alan was instrumental in setting up a Lions School for the Blind in Ndola, Zambia and the school is still flourishing today, still supported by Lions, almost half a century later – a lasting legacy and a tribute to Alan’s vision.
The family returned to England in 1979, moving to Yorkshire. After Africa, they obviously found Yorkshire too cold and promptly moved south to High Littleton. Alan and Jean had a shop in High Littleton, a general store and Jean also ran a clothes boutique. Jean always looked amazing and was a very stylish lady. Alan was smart and upright, he was no Arkwright, there was no spring on his till! With his generous nature - his loose change never spent much time in his pocket as he always gave it away to a good cause. Alan and Jean then moved to Midsomer Norton where they settled for the rest of their lives.
Alan renewed his membership of Lions, joining Radstock and Midsomer Norton Lions Club. He was president of the club in 1986 and went on to serve as president, a total of seven times; in fact he was in his seventh year of office when he passed away.
Alan was always keen to serve and had many district posts, culminating in becoming District Governor for District 105W (South Wales and part of the West Country) in 2004 to 2005. His final district post was that of treasurer up until 2018 when Lions districts were re-organised and district 105W ceased to exist. In all, Alan served Lions over 52 years.
Alan was always a doer and chaired the Radstock and Midsomer Norton Lions activities and fundraising committee for many years. Alan was awarded a Melvin Jones Fellowship in recognition of his service to Lions and the community. Melvin Jones founded Lions in 1917 and in the UK, we award Melvin Jones Fellowships for dedicated humanitarian services. Jean was also awarded a Melvin Jones Fellowship in recognition of her devoted support to Alan. Jean sadly passed away in 2018.
Alan was also treasurer for the Paulton British Legion until the organisation closed in 2020 and he was a valued volunteer driver with Swan Transport. This organisation, based in Radstock provide transport for older, disabled and vulnerable people in the Bath & North East Somerset who are unable to get around by conventional Public Transport. He enjoyed doing this, meeting and helping many different people and his passengers enjoyed meeting him. Alan was a very social and caring person, he took a genuine interest in peoples lives and some passengers even wanted to adopt him as a member of their own family. He greatly regretted having to stop when he became unable to drive a few years ago.
One of the many things friends and fellow lions admired about Alan was his ability to speak off the cuff without notes, being quick witted and able to create the backdrop for a good story, a project or cause in just a few descriptive words.
Alan passed away on the 30th December and his funeral was held on 30th January he will be sadly missed by many but we may find comfort in the fact that he had a life well lived and he will be joining his beloved wife Jean.
Members of the Radstock and Midsomer Norton Lions Club