Griffen 2014

16 Obituaries OB I TUAR I E S David Free (1952) died peacefully at home on 12 November 2013, aged 80. A life-long cyclist, David will be greatly missed by his family and all who knew him. Robyn Grant (1950) Robyn Grant died on 6 January 2013, aged 80. Born in June 1932, Robyn was the eldest of three brothers; his two younger brothers, Mike and Neville, are also OAs. After leaving school, he did his National Service: commissioned into the Royal Berkshire Regiment, was seconded to 6th Battalion Kings African Rifles, and saw service in Kenya during the Mau Mau insurgency. After his military service, he worked for a series of companies, mainly on the sales and marketing side, and his successful career culminated in becoming MD of a Dutch firm, Heuga International. Robyn (left), with his younger brother Neville, outside their old family home in Park Road, Abingdon, in 2009 Robyn married in 1957 to Joanna Hall and had three children and seven grandchildren. His wife died a few weeks after Robyn and many people attended a joint service of thanksgiving at Holy Trinity Church, Bramley, on 1 March 2013. They will be much missed by both family and friends. Neville Grant (1957) Michael Grigsby (1955) As a pupil in the 1950s, Michael Grigbsy kickstarted filmmaking at Abingdon. With other enthusiastic members of ASPS, he made three films, Ut Proficias (1953), Thanks a Million (1954) and No Tumbled House (1955). The latter secured him a job as a film editor at Granada Television under the enlightened stewardship of Sidney Bernstein and Denis Foreman. In 1957, eager to graduate to the director’s role, Grigsby formed Unit 57 and made Enginemen in his spare time - a portrait of Manchester railway workers at the end of the steam era. It came to the attention of Lindsay Anderson and Karel Reisz and was included in the last of the BFI’s Free Cinema programmes. Tomorrow’s Saturday (1962) and Deckie Learner (1965) followed, confirming Grigsby as a leading figure in the new wave of realist documentary filmmakers. In a career spanning sixty years, Grigsby made more than forty films and was hailed as “one of the giants of British documentary”. In 2003, he returned to Abingdon to co- found the Abingdon Film Unit, enabling a new generation of Abingdonians to learn the art of poetic filmmaking. In ten years under Grigsby’s inspiring leadership, the Unit’s members have made 111 films and secured an international reputation. Michael passed away on 12 March 2013. As one obituarist observed, he was also “an exceptionally nice man”. Jeremy Taylor (Common Room) Keith Hasnip (Common Room 1954-1994) It is with great sadness that we report the death of Keith Hasnip on 19 December 2013. Keith taught at Abingdon School from 1954 to 1994, was Housemaster at Waste Court and on retirement was Head of Modern Languages. David Haynes (Common Room 1973-2004) David Haynes arrived in Abingdon in 1973. He was appointed as Head of Physics, having responded to an advertisement to “teach physics to the children of Harwell scientists”. He nurtured an interested in microelectronics and computers and was seconded to run the Independent Schools Microelectronics Centre (ISMEC) in 1986. David’s nickname among the boys was “Yogi Bear” which fitted his calm, cheerful and respected demeanour. Many boys will remember him for his leadership of trips to the Lake District with second formers at Easter and sixth formers in February. These trips have inspired many boys to walk in the mountains long after their time at school. In the late 1980s as computers emerged into the mainstream, David began to persuade sometimes reluctant, sometimes sceptical colleagues that “Information and Computing Technology” (ICT) was going to become central to school life. From two computers connected by wire in his office off the old lab 23, the school network grew (first in the warehouse and later in Mercers’ Court) to over 300 computers and is now the rival of any school’s computer establishment. Outside school, David loved music and was a pillar of his church in Abingdon, which was bursting at the seams at his memorial service. He leaves his wife, Marion, and two sons Peter (Professor of Theory and Simulation of Materials at Imperial College London) and Richard (MRC scientist and consultant nephrologist in Oxford). Peter Haynes (1992) and Richard Haynes (1994)