continued to support the club on the range at Bisley in a non-shooting capacity. In September 2015, Mavis and Gay were recognized by The Queen in celebration of their Diamond wedding anniversary. Following short illnesses, the couple were laid to rest at Christchurch, Swindon, after a brief spell in a local nursing home. Robin Tuckerman contributed significantly to this obituary.
year. After leaving Dulwich, he was awarded a Shell Scholarship to study for a Chemical Engineering degree at St Catherine’s College, Cambridge. At Cambridge, he bought a Lambretta scooter and made frequent trips back to Dulwich on it for parties with old friends. He graduated in 1966 with a First class degree, joining Shell as one of their graduate entry trainees. Shell posted him to the Netherlands initially, where he lived and worked for a few years, and became proficient in the Dutch language although he admitted that the locals usually spoke English better than he did. From here, Shell sent him to Houston, Texas, USA, which meant he largely lost touch with previous friends and colleagues. When he finally returned to the UK, he bought a large family house near Guildford station and he commuted to Shell offices on the South Bank and in The Strand. He became involved with oil trading for Shell, establishing and running a highly successful Trading Group in London, and eventually becoming Head of Crude Acquisition dealing with oil-producing countries, as well as devising the contract for producing the price for Brent crude oil which governs the world oil price. Work colleagues, including another OA, Jerry Saville, attest to Peter’s high standing within Shell. His senior position meant that late working was frequently a necessity so he bought a flat in Covent Garden for his occasional use, as well as that of one of his daughters who was then London-based. After finally retiring from Shell after forty years, he did some post-retirement consultancy work with an Indian firm in Mumbai, staying in a large hotel on trips out there. He had a near miss when this hotel was once attacked by terrorists only a few days after he had flown home.
He married Maureen in 1970 and they had two daughters, Joanna and Eleanor, who kept him busy when he wasn’t actually working. Peter’s life-long love of learning had practical applications such as using calculus to determine how to win a ski race. More recently, when he discovered that he had melanoma, he rapidly became expert in the literature, establishing a strong rapport with his oncologist. This unquenchable thirst for learning and experimentation did have downsides for the family as he insisted on rewiring and installing heating to the family home in Guildford during his very limited amount of spare time, which meant the family having to wear several layers day and night in a cold house throughout a winter. Despite playing rugby for the College, once he had left school he was too busy and often travelling to continue playing rugby, but he continued to stay active throughout his life. Squash, judo and a wide range of water sports were his main sports during his younger years, and then as he retired he switched his focus to golf. Always short-sighted, he would blast balls off the tee into the blue yonder with cries of “Anyone see where that’s going?”. Skiing was an enduring passion, and the family went skiing in Whistler, Canada, for his 70th birthday. He was adept at unravelling a small child from skis and poles and getting them upright again on a 45 degree slope. This was a skill he developed with his daughters and perfected with his four grandsons, who have inherited his love of skiing. His high energy levels meant he kept up with everyone else all day – from the first lift up in the morning to the last run down again. Sadly Maureen died in 2003 from breast cancer, leaving Peter to care for his ageing father, then in his mid-nineties, alone. After selling the
Peter Adrian Ward [1955-62] 24.03.1944 – 09.12.2015
Peter Ward was born in Shirley in early 1944, shortly before his father who was serving
with the Royal Artillery embarked for the D-Day landings and then fought across Europe with the Allies until VE Day, finally being demobbed a year later. Peter grew up in Shirley with both mother and father working as headteachers of schools in Croydon. He attended Benson Primary School in Shirley, where he passed his 11+ exam and gained a local authority scholarship under the ‘Dulwich Experiment’. There were several other pupils who went on from Benson primary school to Dulwich, and their journey from Shirley to Dulwich involved a 194 bus to Beckenham Junction station, a train to West Dulwich station, followed by joining the throng of boys wearing black jackets and school caps walking along the South Circular Road to the College. After a year of the convoluted commute to Dulwich, he became a boarder in The Orchard, moving on to board at Blew House a couple of years later. Academically, Peter was a high-flyer, especially at maths and science, and he became a school prefect. He was also a fierce tackling wing forward at rugby, playing for the 1st XV in his final
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