celebration of his life in the front hall of Goodwood House, where he had often been to events with Jane, and had a professed wish to have a party there for himself. This was a way of granting him this last special wish.
weather, particularly measuring rainfall, his other interests included following both Charlton Athletic FC and Kent County Cricket Club. Alan was also an enthusiastic tennis player, regularly gracing the doubles court until problematic hips brought that to an end. As tennis became more difficult Alan turned his attention to bowls and both he and Drusie became keen bowlers, often going away on trips with other members of their bowling club. Towards the end of his life Alan’s mobility became constrained by his hip replacement operations but he displayed typical British stoicism and never complained about the restrictions that his immobility imposed on him. Alan had fond memories of his time at Dulwich and was a regular attendee at OA events. He died after a short illness indirectly connected to surgery he had for bowel cancer some two years previously and which ultimately took its toll on him. He is survived by Drusie, now sadly suffering from Alzheimer’s, their four children and by nine grandchildren.
After gaining some work experience elsewhere, he joined the firm of Spencer & Kent which had been founded by his father. Later Patrick expanded the firm by taking over the estate agency business of Kennedy’s, finally selling the combined business when he retired in 1994. The last office of Spencer & Kent, in Calton Avenue, Dulwich Village, was sold at around the time of his death, removing the Spencer name from the Dulwich estate agency market for the final time. Patrick had a great talent for amateur dramatics and performed in many productions with the Dulwich Players, and also performing with the St. Stephen’s Players. He was also interested in history and joined the committee of the Dulwich Society as local history representative in 1990, before becoming the Hon Secretary in 1994, a post he held for 20 years. In addition to his Dulwich Society commitments, retirement from business created the opportunity for Patrick and wife Merrill to indulge their love of travel, and he also took up water colour painting. He died after a short illness soon after celebrating his 80th birthday, and is survived by Merrill and son Jolyon. William Gifford Starkey [1943-48] 03.02.1930 – 09.05.2016 Gifford Starkey was born and grew up in Sydenham. His father, Herbert, was a surveyor in the construction industry and his mother had been a ballet dancer before devoting her time to her family. Gifford came to Dulwich during the Second World War from St. Dunstan’s Prep School in Catford and was in Marlowe. His favourite subjects at school were English and
Long-term partner Jane contributed significantly to this obituary.
Alan John Slade [1944-51] 04.08.1933 – 11.04.2016 Alan Slade was the eldest child of Arthur Slade, a company director, and his wife Ruby. He was brought up in Petts Wood and came to Dulwich from Crofton County School in Orpington. At the College he was in Grenville. His great passion in life was the weather; he received a prized barograph for his twenty-first birthday which he diligently attended to for his entire life, faithfully recording air pressure movements on a weekly chart. With the benefit of hindsight he would probably have been best served by pursuing a career in meteorology but at the time parental advice was that this was not a serious career option. After completing national service in the RAF, Alan joined Westminster Bank and began a long, steady, career in the banking sector, ultimately ending up at Manufacturers Hanover Trust from where he retired in 1991. Alan married Drusie, who was also from Petts Wood, in 1957 and they went on to have four children, Douglas, Martin, Brian and Denise, and almost 60 years of happy marriage. For most of this time they lived in Epsom, Surrey, where their four children all attended local schools. Aside from his love of the
Alan’s son Martin contributed significantly to this obituary.
Patrick Lydall Spencer [1946-52] 17.03.1935 – 11.05.2015
Patrick Spencer lived in Dulwich all his life, and was very proud of his family’s long Dulwich
connection. He started by attending Miss Hoe’s kindergarten in Croxted Road, before going on to Dulwich Prep and finally to the College, where he was in Raleigh. After leaving the College he followed his father into surveying by studying at the College of Estate Management, qualifying as a Chartered Surveyor in 1956.
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