I have not had contact with any of you for some six years, and I have a different e-mail address, but I hope this message reaches you. However I am sorry that this contact is to break to you the sad news of the death of Mr John Caress Royds, our beloved ex-headmaster from the General Wingate School days. He had not really been that well for the last five years with arthritis in his knee, poor hearing like most elderly people, and most cruel of all for such a raconteur, loosing his voice in the past eighteen months. That meant he could not receive visitors any more as it was too exhausting for him to try and talk to them. Nevertheless Sharon and I were privileged to visit him last May. We had hoped to visit him again in September on his 90th birthday but he did not want any celebrations.
John Royds passed away peacefully in hospital on the 31st of March some two weeks after he was admitted after an accident at home which left him weak. He has a nephew who wrote to me with the sad news as he indeed did to others from a careful list left with him by John. John was very independent and did not like to be a burden on anybody. That was why he refused an offer from his nephew to move in with them. John was 90 years when he died, but despite his physical problems his brain remained very incisive to the last minute.
Sharon and I will attend the service of celebration of John's life in Salisbury on Thursday afternoon as will Aklilu Demissie. We don't know which of the ex- Wingate teachers will be present, but I may not recognise any of them except for Patrick Gilkes - I expect he will attend?
Please pass the sad news to all he knew John Royds.
Abraha Derso, UK
Dear Wingaters,
Rev J.C.Royds. Please see below a brief obituary which was published in The Times of London yesterday. Maybe you could pass the word to those around you who happen to know John – I am sure there are many. John Royds will, of course, always be remembered It is with a heartfelt sorrow that I bring to you guys the sad news about the death of the among Wingaters of our generation as a great mentor who stood tall to impact. May he rest in peace.
If you wish to contact David Andrews, John’s nephew and closest kin, who asked me to let you know about John’s passing away, his e-mail is: dh.andrews@virgin.net, and his telephone number: 01929 550999.
Best,
Girma
Rev. John Caress, M.A., died peacefully on 31st March 2011, aged 90. Much loved and respected by all who knew him through his teaching career at Bryanston, as Headmaster of the Royal Wingate School in Addis Ababa and of Uppingham School, and then from 1974 as a Priest in Peterborough, Northampton; Peshawar in Pakistan; and Salisbury, Wilts. A Thanksgiving Service will be held at St. Mark's Church, Salisbury , on Thursday 14th April at 3.00pm. No flowers please; donations to St. Mark's PCC if desired. Enquiries to nephew, David Andrews on 01929 550999.
Dear Kef,
Thank you so much for relaying the message re John Royds to all friends at your end. It is good for John’s kith and kin who will congregate at St Marks for the thanksgiving service on Thursday to know that there are so many around the world who hold J.C.R. in high esteem and reverence. As you noted, we were indeed very lucky to have had him as a headmaster who treated us all like a good father. For that we all respected him and loved him. No doubt, he was an excellent role model for boys of our generation, and there are many of us today who will dearly miss him.
I will not unfortunately be attending the thanksgiving service as I have workshop to run here this week. David Andrews, John’s nephew, told me that Drs Aklilu Demissie and Abraha Derso will be there and that Abraha Derso will speak in remembrance of John Royds. John, as you know, lived to good age. Once when I called to speak to him, he told me that he was so grateful to his maker for the grace period he was given beyond the three score and ten.
By the way, where is Fisseha Zewdie these days? When I asked David Andrews last week if he had passed on the sad news to him in the US, he said the only contact he had in America was someone in Canada, whose name he wouldn’t remember. So am I right to think that Fisseha is now living in Canada? Surely, it would be good to hear from him on this occasion.
Thank you so much for inviting me to join your Book Club – you may count me in, but I am not sure if I would live up to expectation as a member, since I’m afraid I wouldn’t really have much time for active participation. Incidentally, whatever happened to the Wingate website that you guys there once launched to build a global network of old Wingate students? That was a good start, but then before too long I lost track of it. In fact, I remember sending print-outs of some of the pages and photographs to John Royds when the website was launched, and he was happy about it, even though he didn’t at the time appear keen with the use of the technology to visit the website himself. He said the late Frank Dawson had encouraged him to do so, but he wouldn’t budge. His focus in life, I came to realize, was not so much on the medium as on the content of things that would make a difference to who we are as individuals and as social beings. The basic values of virtue wouldn’t change, he would argue. Good is good, no matter. All the rest around this is froth and bubble. To that end, John Royds was spot on with his thoughts and attitude to life. He was not a Christian for nothing, after all.
Anyway, let me give you a break here. My best regards to you and your family.
I have not had contact with any of you for some six years, and I have a different e-mail address, but I hope this message reaches you. However I am sorry that this contact is to break to you the sad news of the death of Mr John Caress Royds, our beloved ex-headmaster from the General Wingate School days. He had not really been that well for the last five years with arthritis in his knee, poor hearing like most elderly people, and most cruel of all for such a raconteur, loosing his voice in the past eighteen months. That meant he could not receive visitors any more as it was too exhausting for him to try and talk to them. Nevertheless Sharon and I were privileged to visit him last May. We had hoped to visit him again in September on his 90th birthday but he did not want any celebration.
John Royds passed away peacefully in hospital on the 31st of March some two weeks after he was admitted after an accident at home which left him weak. He has a nephew who wrote to me with the sad news as he indeed did to others from a careful list left with him by John. John was very independent and did not like to be a burden on anybody. That was why he refused an offer from his nephew to move in with them. John was 90 years when he died, but despite his physical problems his brain remained very incisive to the last minute.
Sharon and I will attend the service of celebration of John's life in Salisbury on Thursday afternoon as will Aklilu Demissie. We don't know which of the ex- Wingate teachers will be present, but I may not recognise any of them except for Patrick Gilkes - I expect he will attend?
Please pass the sad news to all he knew John Royds.
Abraha Derso, UK
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