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In Memoriam
Eleanor Will ( Geography and Politics , 1959 )
24 March 1937 to 2 May 2020
Eleanor first went to The Friends School at Saffron Walden where she joined her sister , Leonie and cousins and from there to secondary education at the Grey Coat Hospital School in London . She did very well academically and went on to Keele University where she studied Geography and Political Institutions , gaining her degree and teaching diploma . During her holidays she volunteered with the Service Civil International in both France and India joining work parties to improve living conditions in a leprosarium and urban slum areas . It was during this time she met several of her lifetime friends and the sister of His Holiness the Dalai Lama .
Eleanor went to live and work in Pakistan for her first teaching engagement . In 1966 , as a mature student , she took a one year course at the London School of Economics for a Diploma in Social Administration for Graduates Overseas and shortly after joined the Foreign Office , in the research department where she stayed for 11 years and which she enjoyed enormously . It was towards the end of this time that Eleanor met Eric who would become her husband , marrying in Cheltenham in 1977 and then travelling out to Papua New Guinea where Eric worked in the tea industry .
About a year later Eleanor realised married life didn ’ t suit her and she decided to come home and returned to teaching Geography in London .
She retired at 61 which she loved as she could now indulge her passion for travel - visiting all 7 continents over the years ! Perhaps her most memorable trips were to Bhutan and Antarctica , the latter , in her 70s , which she travelled to on a Russian ice breaker , and not being faint hearted took ' The Polar Plunge ' being the first woman awarded 2 vodkas for swimming in the icy waters ! She took the plunge twice , in both the Arctic and Antarctic and has the certificates and photographs to prove it !
She remained fit and active until the last 4 years of her life , when Parkinson ' s Disease hit her hard . In the last few years , Eleanor enjoyed her biweekly visits to the exercise group and lunch club at St Luke ' s Cheltenham , always able to hold her own in any political debates that arose over lunch .
Dot Davidson ( Economics and Politics , 1958 )
Dot grew up in Birmingham during the war and attended school at King Edward VI High School for Girls before moving to Nottingham where she started her first job in a textile agency following a secretarial course . To broaden her horizons , Dot applied to Cadbury at Bourneville and , after two years , was offered a scholarship to university reading Economics at Keele , followed by a personnel management course .
Some of the friends she made at Keele kept contact throughout their lives .
Dot intended to make a career in industry and joined the Glaxo group in London , first in the factory in the East
End and then working for the Board in the West End .
Dot met Roy in 1965 and they married in 1966 . Dot worked in manufacturing followed by ten years with British Caledonian and two and a half years at British Airways as Head of Recruitment before taking early retirement . She was asked by Crawley College to cover absence as a lecturer on the Personnel Diploma Course and ended up staying 10 years .
Both Dot and Roy loved to travel and were active members of St Mary ’ s parish church in Horsham . Dot served for 20 years on the Personnel Committee of the Church Mission Society . After moving to Manning ’ s Heath in 1975 and fully retired , they both enjoyed active roles in village life . Dot leaves behind her small family and a sizable collective of friends across the country and the world .
Nigel Salt ( English and Philosophy , 1978 )
Nigel had worked as the head of the IT Audit Group at the National Audit Office and had retired by 2010 . Nigel continued to love philosophy and found ideas from his studies creeping into audit reports he worked on before retirement . He undertook a post-graduate diploma in public administration at the Polytechnic of Central London , and then joined the National Audit Office and became CIPFA qualified in 1984 .
His wife , Valerie Salt ( nee Hunter ), also went to Keele . Nigel greatly valued his time at Keele , and ensured he and Valerie rekindled their memories of Keele once every few years by visiting the campus to see how it had changed .
Col David Benest OBE ( International Relations , 1981 )
David , who recently passed away aged 66 , was a soldier and a scholar who drew on his military experiences