David Heard (1970) David passed away on 15 March 2022 after a short illness. Peter Cowlett (1978) Peter died in October 2022. Michael Llewellyn (1981) Michael died suddenly at home in Farnborough, Hampshire, on 30 March 2022 aged just 59. Mike studied Zoology at Cardiff University, completed a MSc Biomedical Engineering at Surrey and his PhD at the University of London, although most of his project work was undertaken at the University of Alberta, Canada, following the emigration of his supervisor. Mike initially worked for the Defence Research Establishment, Farnborough, and then joined their commercial arm QinetiQ as a senior scientist in the area of motion capture. In 2016 he became a self-employed research consultant offering training and advice, he was still working at the time of his death. Mike had a number of passions, he was a keen astronomer and a lover of the water with a boat on the Solent. Linda Llewellyn John Cullen (Former Common Room) John died peacefully at his home in Woodstock on 1 July 2022, surrounded by his family. He was Director of Music at Abingdon School from 19641967. He flourished in this role at Abingdon and had many happy and cherished memories of his time there, and the wonderful sense of community that the School provided. It was at Abingdon that he met his beloved wife, Mary, who was sister of Hugh Randolph, whom he also held especially dear. John and Mary greatly appreciated the warm welcome that they received whenever revisiting the School, and the reassurance that the School and its excellent music department have continued to flourish over the years. Christopher and Jon Cullen Derek Jones (Former Common Room) Derek joined Abingdon School as Bandmaster at the invitation of Terry James (former Director of Music) and served the School with great distinction in that role up to his retirement. Derek joined the Army as a trumpeter and was quickly promoted to Bandmaster at the Devonshire and Dorset regiment. With his wife and young family he enjoyed several postings overseas, before retiring from the Army and coming first to Sedbergh School and then to Abingdon where his children were schooled. As Abingdon’s bandmaster, Derek was immensely welcoming to Michael Stinton when he arrived in 1987 and he was happy to take him under his wing. Derek encapsulated all the characteristics of a top army musician: excellent preparation, well-organised resources, stylish and efficient conducting. Whilst principally a French horn player, Derek was also a skilled teacher of brass instruments and this occupied the majority of his time in the department. He was particularly pleased that one of his trumpeters gained a place in the final of the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition in the mid 1980s. Derek is survived by his wife, Maureen, and three of his four children. Michael Stinton, Director of Music Robert Strawson (Former Common Room) Robert joined Abingdon in 1988 after a career teaching physics in the UK and Africa. He was a member of the Physics Department for 17 years, much of that time as Head of Department. He organised the stage crew in the Amey Theatre, was a member of the academic committee and took an active part in sailing, charities, astronomy and the British Physics Olympiad. On retirement he was a member of Abingdon U3A and Silversmith groups and continued to keep in touch with the School. His constant quest for knowledge on all subjects and his ability to retain and use it was remarkable and was of benefit to the generations of young people he taught. Robert contributed in so many ways to the communities in which he lived, as a caring neighbour and an enthusiastic, hard-working teacher. His sudden and unexpected death was a shock to all and he will be much missed. Daniel Strawson (1990) years earlier. He trained in Information Sciences and Librarianship at Sheffield and Huddersfield. He worked for Oxford University, for the Ordnance Survey, in Marine Biology (Plymouth) and in Poultry (Houghton), before gaining a senior librarianship at Robert Gordon’s University in Aberdeen, where he worked for 25 years. Somewhat solitary, he became very well-read and collected on vinyl all the top 20 hits. Above all, he visited almost every town and city on the British mainland, and twice cycled from Land’s End to John O’Groats. He was the brother of Tim King (OA Club Secretary 1986-71). Tim King (1964) Peter Ablewhite (1968) Peter passed away on 16 May 2022 aged 72. He enjoyed a distinguished time at Abingdon, both academically and in extracurricular activities, having been head of school, head of the CCF, captain of the Boat Club and played rugby for 1st XV. Following University days at Cambridge and Birmingham he had a successful career in the oil industry where he became one of only 10 global specialists in the area of “High Level Telemetry Diagnosis”. He leaves a wife Veronica and daughter Christina. In later years he and Veronica divided their time between Sussex and their house in France and found time to partake in regular, extremely memorable trips to Greece, Turkey and the Canary Islands with likeminded OAs and their partners from 1968. Our sympathies and thoughts are with Veronica and Christina. Peter will be sadly missed. Terry Parfitt (1968) David Jollyman (1970) David passed away in September following a short battle with cancer. David was born in Cipata, Africa, lived most of his childhood in Wantage and attended Abingdon School from 1967-1970. David travelled to India working for Lady Betjeman in the early 70s and on his return worked for Ivor Fields photographers in Abingdon. In the late 70s he moved to Copenhagen, Denmark, continued his professional career in photography and film processing, and had a long happy marriage to Irene. He always loved steak ‘n’ kidney pies as he couldn’t get a decent one in Denmark! His wry sense of humour, laughter and carefree outlook on life will be missed. Bernard Martin G R I F F E N 2 0 2 3 | 4 3
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