DEATHS AND OBITUARIES
We regret to announce the passing of the following OPs and we extend our sympathy to their families and friends :
OBITUARIES
DEATHS AND OBITUARIES
Rex Belas ( 35-40 ) of Eastleigh , Hampshire , 21 August 2023 , aged 101 .
Peter Blacker ( 40-46 ) of Driffield , 1 June 2023 , aged 93 .
Stephen Bonner ( née Ulyett , 77-81 ) of Teesside , 28 October 2022 , aged 60 .
Paul Dickens ( 54-62 ) of London , May 2023 , aged 77 .
Christopher J Dickinson ( 66-73 ) of Aldbrough St John , Richmond , 31 July 2023 , aged 68 .
Richard Dixon ( 45-51 ) of Withernsea , 31 January 2022 , aged 87 .
Alan Drescher ( 56-59 ) of Withernsea , 12 December 2022 , aged 79 .
( James ) Michael Gilbertson ( 86-96 ) of High Catton , York , 26 August 2023 , aged 45 .
Robin Charles Hall ( 53-61 ) of London , 7 January 2023 , aged 79 .
Michael Hargreaves ( 44-47 ) of Leeds , 1 June 2023 , aged 92 .
Ann Hirst ( Former Staff 89-08 ) of Barmby Moor , Pocklington , 18 January 2023 , aged 76 .
( George ) Malcolm Hutchinson ( 46-53 ) of Andover , Hampshire , 28 September 2021 , aged 86 .
Sarah J Iveson ( 88-90 ) of Stamford , Lincolnshire , 18 February 2023 , aged 50 .
Brian E King ( 39-45 ) of Mirfield , West Yorkshire , 21 November 2022 , aged 94 .
Alan Midgley ( Former Staff , 64-68 ) of Woodnewton , 16 September 2023 , aged 83 .
David Nuttall ( Former Staff , 63-02 ) of Pocklington , 10 June 2023 , aged 83 .
Nicholas Parker ( 72-81 ) of Bridlington , 1 October 2023 , aged 60 .
Nick Partridge ( 59-67 ) of Costa Rica , 8 February 2023 , aged 75 .
Tom Pollock ( Former Staff , 88-93 ) of Pocklington , 23 January 2023 , aged 94 .
David J Rose ( 72-78 ) of Blandford Forum , Dorset , 6 June 2023 , aged 63 .
David B Saltmer ( 55-61 ) of Stokesley , North Yorkshire , 28 January 2022 , aged 79 .
John A Sawkill ( 47-49 ) of Stamford Bridge , York , 13 July 2022 , aged 82 .
Douglas Bernard Simpson ( 53-59 ) of Beverley , East Yorkshire , 13 May 2023 , aged 81 .
Allan Wardle ( 47-53 ) of Pickering , North Yorkshire , 9 January 2023 , aged 86 .
Gerald ( Gus ) Arthur Clifford Weeden ( 42-49 ) of Chesterfield , January 2022 , aged 92 .
Simon A Weeden ( 67-73 ) of Newport Pagnell , Buckinghamshire , 12 October 2022 , aged 66 .
Christopher David Wilcher ( 51-55 ) of Leeds , 17 July 2023 , aged 85 .
John Williamson ( Former Staff , 82-07 ) of Pocklington , 2 August 2023 , aged 79 .
OBITUARIES
Colonel Reginald John Belas ( 35-40 ) was born in Middlesbrough on 23 April 1922 . He boarded at Pocklington School from 1935 to 1940 and graduated from Durham University at King ’ s College Newcastle Medical School in 1945 . He was sporty , enjoying gymnastics and diving but excelling at swimming ; captaining both his school and university swimming teams , Rex was awarded University Palatinate at Durham for his sporting achievements . Rex played rugby for his school and university , Medicals and Wallsend , and occasionally for Middlesbrough . Rex also played golf from the age of nine , but he described this as ‘ with more enthusiasm than skill ’!
Rex also took up dinghy sailing in Singapore and Hong Kong and was awarded C3 helm in Singapore and Competent Crew in yacht sailing in the UK . These hobbies were pure enjoyment for Rex , not taking them too seriously , but this is not the case with his career of which he was rightly proud of his numerous achievements , and of his family , for whom he wrote ‘ he had a great love and interest ’.
He served in the Royal Army Medical Corps in Austria , which was when he married Patricia whom he had known since childhood . Married in 1947 , they had a lifetime together – more than 76 years . They returned together to Middlesbrough where Caroline and Michael were born in 1948 and ‘ 49 , and Patrick in 1956 . During this time Rex was a Psychiatric Registrar , and then for thirteen years , a GP .
Rex was in the Territorial Army , where he was decorated in 1963 and appointed Honorary Member of the Green Howards Regiment in 1957 .
In 1964 , when Rex was 42 , he re-joined the regular Royal Army Medical Corps , with posts in
Germany , Netley , Singapore , Catterick , and Hong Kong . Amongst his professional achievements , he attained consultant status as a psychiatrist in 1971 , the same year as he became a founder member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists . He was elected Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 1979 and founded the Catterick Medical Society , being the first secretary for five years .
By the time he retired the regular Army in 1979 he was promoted to Colonel and had served as Royal Medical Officer , Advisor in Psychiatry Far East Land Forces , Command Psychiatrist , and was the second in command of the British Military Hospital in Hong Kong .
Rex was a faithful man . A mason for seven decades , married for close to eight , and a golfer for nine .
In 2005 , Rex and Patricia moved to Chandler ’ s Ford in Hampshire to be near their family . Rex was a regular at St Boniface Church where he combined church service with his love of music and gained ‘ great enjoyment ’ through joining the choir , singing well into his 90s !
He is survived by his wife Patricia , and two sons Michael ( 58-67 ) and Patrick ( 70-75 ), both old Pocklingtonians . The photograph shows Rex holding his youngest great grandchild .
( Michael Belas )
Stephen Michael Bonner ( née Ulyett , 77-81 ) was born in 1962 in Worksop , Nottinghamshire , one of three children to Barbara and Kenneth Ulyett . His parents split up when he was young , and his mother took the children to live in Pocklington where she ran a fine art shop . Stephen attended Pocklington School and afterwards Newcastle University where he studied Medicine . As OPs , Stephen along with near contemporary David Willis ( 72-82 ), were awarded the Wilberforce Old Pocklingtonians Scholarship . The scholarship supported them in their quest to gain practical medical experience in Thailand where amongst other things they assisted in surgery and studied TB , malaria , VD , mental health , nutrition , maternal and child health in several clinics .
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