OBITUARIES
In 2004 , Mike and Gillian returned to live in Corbridge , Northumberland , a place and a community that very much felt like ‘ home ’ to both of them . Here , Mike became a well-known member of the Rotary Club .
Gillian died in 2015 and Mike found the following years very difficult . After a stroke in 2019 , Mike was determined to live an independent life at home . The Covid restrictions made him feel very isolated , but he remained in regular contact with his family and friends . He was immensely grateful for their love and encouragement .
As a respected pioneer in the field of Continuing Education , Mike was known for his passion for accessible education , integrity , tenacity and desire to make a change for good in people ’ s lives . A modest , approachable , generous , gentleman who touched the lives of many people who never met him and inspired countless others .
Mike died on 19 September 2020 aged 81 . He is survived by his two daughters Helen and Frances .
( Helen Nisbet née Richardson )
( Thomas ) Richard ‘ Ric ’ Shepherd ( 64-70 ) followed his cousin , uncle and great grandfather to be educated at Pocklington School .
Ric was always an avid reader and played an active role in the school library , he also spoke of his active interest in school productions .
He particularly enjoyed the new art wing when he was in the Sixth Form . The silk screen printing equipment led to his first major business venture ; printing t-shirts with his young Art Master , Alan Sharp . They took orders from amongst others T-Rex . He once missed a telephone call from Richard Branson as his mother told him “ Richard is at school !
He had a great love of music and from a young age excelled in his music exams .
After taking both A and S level examinations a chance meeting with Malcolm Bradbury led Ric to reading English at The University of East Anglia ; once at university he changed courses to read American Studies . He developed a lifelong love of the USA and an in-depth knowledge of its political system and culture .
He met his wife Mary whilst they were both at UEA and they married on graduating . As he had been accepted for an MA in War Studies at Kings in London the newly married couple moved into a flat in Finchley . However , Ric decided not to take up his place and became an articled clerk at Rothman and Pantel . Accountancy proved not to be the career for him , and he went to work as a journalist , freelance to begin with and then as sub editor on the telegraph , he also worked at TV Am .
Ric soon tired of working for other people and his entrepreneurial personality became a driving force . He and Mary moved to Barnet where he started a textile manufacturing business , outsourcing machining to people in their homes . He proceeded to set up Evergreen Exhibitions ; his factory was at Shenley Lodge from where he and his business partner ran a very successful enterprise ; the firm ’ s biggest contracts being with Dunlop .
In 1981 his love of fancy cars resulted in him wrapping his Lotus Eclat around a tree ! Fortunately , he lived to tell the tale .
In 1990 he moved with Mary and their two children to Bridlington to be closer to family . He worked part time at Beverley College as a lecturer in Media Studies . He also started making pickles for a charity stall ; everything sold well and was in big demand . Once again , his entrepreneurial character took over and he expanded his lines and sold at Farmers ’ Markets and food festivals . One of his customers was David Hockney whom he came to know well ; he had loved David since studying A level Art .
Ric also had a workshop where he made some amazing creations ; he had also built the fittings for his daughter Kate ’ s chocolate factory and shop .
Ric was an extremely intelligent man yet practical ; he could excel at anything he put his mind to – academic , artistic , musical – plus he was an excellent cook .
He used endearingly old-fashioned turn of phrases , was sharp minded , eloquent , had people rolling in the aisles and was kindhearted . He would often describe others as ‘ a scholar and a gentleman as indeed he was himself ’.
He was a dearly loved husband of Mary , dear father of John-Robert and Kate , loving brother of Rosamund and a much-loved father-in-law and grandpa .
( Mary and Rosamund Shepherd )
Michael Philip Wadsworth ( 54-61 ) of Driffield , who died on 2 April 2021 aged 77 , came to Pocklington in 1954 . He served as head librarian and as a committee member of four societies ; he ran in the 2nd cross country team ; he was promoted to corporal in the CCF ; he was a school prefect . He was , pre-eminently , a meticulous classicist ; Derek Whilesmith ( Former Staff , 59-94 ) held him up to beginners in Greek as an example to follow . Michael went up to Oxford as a Bible Clerk , or scholar , of the Queen ’ s College .
Michael took his first degree in Classics gaining firsts in Honour Moderations , Greats and Oriental Languages then an Oxford DPhil and later a Cambridge PhD . As a graduate student he returned temporarily to teach at Pocklington . I remember a challenging , illuminating lesson on Tibullus ’ s poem ( ll i ) on the Arvalia ; Quisquis adest , faveat ... ; far from the usual Fifth Form syllabus . He prepared for ordination at Ripon Hall , of which the Principal described him to the Archbishop of York as ‘ having a most attractive personality ... of outstanding intellectual ability and also a capacity for getting to know in an easy way all sorts and conditions of men .’ Michael served as curate of Sutton on Hull from 1970 to 1973 . From 1973 to 1978 he lectured at the University of Sussex and was from 1978 to 1981 a fellow and chaplain of Sidney Sussex College , Cambridge . He then served in the diocese of Liverpool under Bishop David Sheppard as a parish priest and diocesan lay training officer until 1989 and in the diocese of Ely until 2001 when he retired as an honorary canon of Ely Cathedral .
In 1981 Michael edited and contributed to Ways of Reading the Bible . In retirement he explored a quite different field . Michael ’ s father , Flying Officer Philip Wadsworth , of RAF 156 Squadron , was shot down aged 22 over Germany in April 1944 , leaving Michael ’ s mother Margaret a widow . Michael wrote two books , They Led the Way ; the Story of Pathfinder Squadron 156 , and Heroes of Bomber Command Yorkshire , inspired by the father he never knew .
Michael leaves a widow , Tamara , and four daughters , Rachel , Anna , Philippa and Claire .
( Stephen Deas , 63-70 )
TRIBUTES ?
Please send death notices & obituaries to Rachel in the OP office
darer @ pocklingtonschool . com
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