Tag Archives: obituary

Obituary: Gordon Prosser (1932-2023)

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The funeral will take place of Old Bournemouthian Gordon Prosser at Woking Crematorium,
Surrey, on Tuesday, 27 June, at 1200. All are welcome to attend.

Gordon, of Send, Surrey, died aged 91 on Saturday, May 27.

Born in Bournemouth, Gordon attended Bournemouth School from the age of eleven to
nineteen, completing an extra year because his mother had been initially too ill to give
permission for him to stay on in sixth form. During that time, he became Head Prefect.

After completing Royal Marine training during National Service, Gordon pursued a career in
banking. He was a great supporter of the school and attended the annual Old
Bournemouthians’ dinner well into his late 80s.

Gordon is survived by his wife, Margaret (Peggy) and son, Neil. A daughter, Claire,
predeceased him.

Obituary: Douglas R. Sherwood (1941-1948)

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We received the following, from John Demont:

Douglas (“Dougie”) Sherwood, the last of four Old Bournemouthian brothers, died peacefully in December 2022. He was at the school during the war (1941 – 1948) and was one of four Old Boys who went to Sandhurst in 1948. Douglas distinguished himself by becoming a Junior Under Officer. The other three Old Boys were Tom Farmer, Johnny English, and Tony Baxter – probably a  record School entry!

Dougie was a popular character. He played cricket and football for the School at all levels. He was also a very good table tennis player. He retired early from the Army as a Major to further other activities including valuable charity work with his wife Ann.

David Coleman

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We have received the following email from Wayne Lines, an Old Bournemouthian:

A former student of Bournemouth School and close friend of mine (David Coleman) died in Poland on Feb 1st. Dave arranged a reunion about 9 years ago including a tour of the school where about 25 of us from the ‘class of 1972’  were made very welcome.

We have arranged a celebration of his life. Sadly, I’m only in contact with a handful of former classmates but anyone who knew Dave would be most welcome to join us. The details are below.  (The RSVP is to his sister).

Obituary: Ken Maxted

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Mike Webb writes:

I have just had the sad news that Ken Maxted has passed away. Ken taught for many years at the school and was an Assistant Head, Master in charge of the Sixth Form, Head of Romsey House and a member of the Geography Department.

He was a founder member of the staff cricket team and he played for them with distinction for many years. Ken also organised the staff five-a-side for a time. He was a thorough teacher of geography and helped to build the subject into one of the most heavily subscribed in the school at one time.

As an Old Boy of Taunton’s School, Ken must have had divided loyalties when the two schools met of the sports field but Bournemouth School usually won out in his affections. He will be sorely missed by his colleagues at the monthly ‘Chips’ gatherings.

Jim Green

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We have received the sad news that Life Vice-President Jim Green died on 7 July following a second stroke. Jim was instrumental in the success of the Old Boys 1st XI football team for many years, as well as editing and publishing our twice-yearly newsletter. He was also a school governor for a time and served the school and the Old Bournemouthians for many years.

Should anyone wish to attend, the funeral will be held at 11am on Thursday 27 July at Bournemouth East Cemetery, Gloucester Road. Please note the location is not the Bournemouth Crematorium & Cemetery.

Obituary: David Hopkinson

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Old Boy John Dearing (1957-65) writes:

I have heard today that my contemporary, David Hopkinson who was at Bournemouth School from about 1958-65 has sadly died in Sligo, Ireland. David worked in technical publishing for over 20 years, aspiring at one point to being “Father of the Chapel” but took early retirement some 20 years ago, moving to Ireland in 1994. He was just over 70 at the time of his death.

Obituary: Leonard (“Len”) Ruffell

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Ruffell-LenOld boy Leonard Ruffell, who was at the school from 1950 to 1955, died on 3 July, aged 75. Len had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2013.

Born in his father’s police house in Rownhams, Len moved to Winton in Bournemouth with his family when he was three. He spent most of his career in local government, with councils in Bournemouth and Hampshire, and it was through his work that he met his wife, Anne.

Len enjoyed drama, genealogy and writing and illustrating detective books about his alter ego, Lionel Worst. His daughter, Antonia, now lives in Australia.

His death was reported in the Hampshire Chronicle and the Bournemouth Daily Echo. The funeral was held on Friday 17 July at St Barnabas Church, Weeke.