OBITUARIES
Co . under the guidance of Brigadier Edmund Myers , an experience which would leave him with plentiful anecdotes of his time there . After a spell with Mitchell Construction , David joined Costain in 1969 where he became the Civil Engineering Project Manager on three notable assignments – the M20 Motorway in Kent , the Central Motorway East in Newcastle and finally the London Thames Barrier ( which at the time was the biggest civil engineering infrastructure project in the UK ).
In 1976 David joined John Howard and headed out to Abu Dhabi in the UAE , where he would reside for the next 44 years , working for John Laing , Emirates Holdings , High-Point Rendell , Dhabi Contracting , and eventually setting up his own Civil Engineering Consulting Company “ Central Project Services ” in 1996 . In the middle of his time in Abu Dhabi , he joined the Abu Dhabi Tourist Investment Co . and was based out of Cairo , Egypt ( 1988-1992 ) to oversee hotel developments in Egypt , Turkey , Morocco and Tunisia for a newly created holiday village chain called Palmariva .
A number of physical setbacks meant he had to hang up his much-loved squash racquets , golf clubs and sailing boat much earlier than he wished for , but he continued working tirelessly into his late 70s . His subsequent retirement and move back to The Mile , Pocklington in February 2020 were accelerated by the sad loss of their daughter Lisa in October 2019 , who had worked for him for her entire working life . David died peacefully , after a short illness , on 19 January 2021 in St Leonard ’ s Hospice , York at the age of 82 , leaving behind Sandy , their son Nick ( 77- 86 ), daughter-in-law Neeta and grandchildren Evie and Sam , Shyam and Rajjo .
John Spencer Foxcroft ( 51-61 ) arrived at Pocklington School as a boarder in 1951 . He fully embraced school life gaining his Colours in 2nd XV rugby and excelling at cross-country . He was appointed as a Prefect in his final year and served on the Photography Society committee as Honorary Secretary . He was Stage Manager for school drama productions and played in the orchestra .
After Pocklington , he proceeded to Rolls Royce and Manchester University ( UMIST ) to undertake a degree in Mechanical Engineering then a Masters . Following his studies , he moved to Derby as a research scientist for Rolls-Royce carrying out research into a form of supersonic combustion through which he also collected a PhD ( Nottingham ). Around 1976 , along with two partners , he set up a small engineering design and manufacturing company , Garrandale Ltd . Over some forty years , he was chairman and MD , and the company became well-known in the rail industry .
Alongside his working life , John was actively involved in charity work and the local community . With colleagues he set up a local volunteer group to undertake many activities , including gardening and decorating for the elderly and disabled , weekly visits to children ’ s homes , a club for Mencap and occasional weekend trips for disadvantaged children . John chaired the group and masterminded many developments , including fundraising and subsequently purchasing a burnt-out Peak District cottage at auction in 1977 , namely Back Dane which he and other volunteers restored and established as a facility for inner city children and disadvantaged groups to escape from city life and enjoy new experiences and activities in the beautiful countryside .
John also committed a lot of time to public sector work . He was elected as a Derby councillor and sat on the Social Services committee from 1971 to 1974 . As well as being a magistrate for a time , he was also President of the Derby Chamber of Commerce , a non-executive director of Southern Derbyshire Health Authority and Chairman of Derby and Derbyshire Economic Partnership to name but a few !
In 2013 , he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration from Derby University in recognition of his achievements .
Married to Margaret , John had three daughters and five grandchildren and was a fun-loving , caring and devoted family man ; he was always there for his family and nothing was ever too much trouble . In his spare time , his main activity was windsurfing on Carsington reservoir and enjoying frequent trips to East Crete , Greece and its islands for family holidays .
John ’ s altruism is one of the characteristics that everyone who met him will remember him for ; he was involved in so many ventures throughout his life , that were always to support and benefit others .
He had a determined yet fair nature and even in retirement he was a man who would not sit still and maintained his passion for life and for helping others .
He will be sorely missed .
( Adapted from Derby Telegraph , The Back Dane Trust www . backdane . co . uk or facebook . com / backdanetrust )
Clive Godfrey Mitchell ( 67-72 ) was born in Uganda on 13 November 1953 , one of two children to Maude ( known as Mickey ) and Godfrey Valentine . In 1967 , aged 13 , he arrived at Pocklington School as a boarder in Dolman House . He threw himself into school life undertaking his Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award and becoming a Corporal in the CCF . He was appointed as a Prefect in the Sixth Form and was a keen sportsman , captaining both the 2nd XV rugby and the 2nd XI cricket teams .
With A-levels in Economics and History , Clive went into banking after his time at Pocklington . In 1981 he transferred to the Head Office of Midland Bank in their international division in London before moving to South Africa in 1982 two weeks after marrying his wife Ann .
Clive was employed by Nedbank when the couple first arrived in their new country which was to become home for over 38 years . He also worked for First Corp , Citi Bank , RBS ( Royal Bank of Scotland ) and his final years were as the Chief Representative Officer of a Japanese Bank , Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation after which he retired in 2019 .
Clive was a true family man and his family always came first over anything else . He adored daughter Sarah and son Michael . He had one little granddaughter Willow whom he would read to often and he would have been so proud to meet his new granddaughter , Stella Ann , who arrived during Covid , sadly too late to meet her grandpa .
In his spare time , Clive loved going to the Bush on safari each year on his regular three-day walk with the “ Dagga ” boys ( a Dagga is an old lone buffalo ). He enjoyed a glass of whisky in the evening after work and was always the first to help and mentor people in his workplace . He loved watching sport including rugby , football and cricket and was a huge Manchester City supporter along with all his family . His sister , Pamela lives in Scotland , a place he loved and had often thought about retiring to ; they enjoyed going on long walks in the Perthshire countryside together whenever he was able to visit .
He had fond memories of Pocklington School and kept in touch with the school over the years . In 1982 ,
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