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| 1 Apr 2019 | |
| Announcements |
| POINTON, Kenneth Richard, (Ken) Died peacefully at his home in Ightham, Kent on 29 January 2019, aged 85. Ken was born in Bombay, India (now Mumbai) on 7 May 1933 – his father being the General Manager India of the Swedish industrial company, ASEA (now part of ABB) – but returned to England aged 3, to live with his grandparents, while his parents remained in India. He attended Rushmoor Preparatory School, where he was head of school. It was while there that Ken’s only sibling, Eric (MH 1942-44), who was on a cycling holiday with his friends, was tragically killed in an accident. Ken went to Tonbridge in 1946 and excelled academically and at sport. He was in the Cricket 1st XI for 3 years and in the annual Tonbridge vs. Clifton match became the youngest person to hit a six over the pavilion at Lords aged 16. He was also in the Rugby 1st XV and in his final year captained both the Cricket and the Rugby 1st teams, as well as being Head Boy. Ken served in the Royal Engineers during his National Service, learning to parachute and becoming a Parachute Engineer. After reading Engineering at Clare College, Cambridge, where he narrowly missed earning blues in Rugby and Cricket owing to injury, he became a civil engineer for Sir Alexander Gibb and Partners and designed parts of the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the Aswan Dam, amongst other projects. He subsequently retrained as a management consultant and an accountant, before working as Director for a wide variety of companies including Griffis Metals, recovering precious metals from scrap computers, and IMEG, who laid massive oil pipelines across Europe. Married to Marj in 1957, his career brought him to Tonbridge again and they bought a house in Ightham in 1963, where they brought up their family. Ken loved the garden (looking at it rather than tending to it!), watching any sport (he was lifelong member of the MCC), and discussing world affairs with friends over a bottle of wine. They entertained frequently and Ken was always ready with an anecdote, a big smile and of course his distinctive laugh. He is survived by his wife, Marjorie, children, Rick (MH 1975-79), Clare and Nick (WH 1984-89) and his grandchildren, Alice, Naomi, Hal (WH 2015-), Trinity, Freddie and Raphy. (MH 46-51) |
