Alan was a quiet unassuming man who took his Christian faith seriously. He had a regular quiet time every morning when he listened for God’s direction. This he had learned from his parents where he grew up in Croydon. They had met the work of Moral Re-Armament now known as Initiatives of Change and this led Alan to also commit his life to this- to seeking daily direction from God and living by absolute moral standards of honesty, purity, unselfishness and love
He first became my friend in the late 1950s. He and I were amongst a number of people working in jobs in central London who gave some of our spare time helping at the HQ of MRA in Berkeley Square. This included being part of a team of young men who manned the overnight switchboard. This was at a time when MRA owned and operated from five community homes in Mayfair, with frequent visits from an international travelling team including Frank Buchman and Peter Howard, leaders of MRA at that time.
Alan was born and grew up in Croydon and then trained as a bridge engineer at Battersea Polytechnic, obtaining his B.Sc. degree from London University in 1952. He then worked all his life for British Railways or their equivalent. Richard Weeks who once shared a flat with him wrote
“I was a lot younger than he and somewhat wayward at the time; so, much in need of his maturity and care. I enjoyed the excitement that came into his voice when he talked about railway bridges and their maintenance. I remember him with affection and gratitude.”
As well as being a bridgebuilder by profession he also believed in building bridges of understanding between people including between people of different cultures. Peter Everington writes,
“In the 1970s relations between Britain and Egypt needed rebuilding. Inspired by the ideas of Moral Re-Armament, a programme of student exchange visits was started. Alan lent his newly acquired people carrier to help take a visiting group of 15 Egyptian student leaders around Britain. Over the next years he himself drove the vehicle for a succession of Egyptian, Jordanian, Palestinian and Sudanese students. He played a quiet and vital role in restoring trust, rooted in a Christian conviction that Britain has a calling to serve countries we once ruled.”
Alan had a great interest in Astronomy and he was also a keen sailor. Tony Thomas remembers several holidays with him especially on the Norfolk Broads and in Devon.
In 1981 he met and married Shiela and they had 28 years of marriage together until she died in 2009
Four years ago he married Odette and I had the honour of being his best man at that event. What a joyful occasion that was and how wonderful that they could both have those four years together. Odette and he went to the IofC centre at Panchgani in India together and she also introduce him to IofC people in France, a country where she had been educated.
In Hove he was part of the South Coast team of people who put the ideas of Iof C into practice. Many are here today. John Munro notes, “Alan was a great believer in the power of the printed word. Wherever he went, he always carried a copy of the little green booklet, The Legacy of Frank Buchman. So whenever someone evinced an interest in IofC he would give them a copy. “
We shall all have our own memories of Alan.
I remember him as quiet unassuming man . I did not always know what he was thinking but he quietly went about having his daily quiet time with God and living a Christian life. He was very disciplined.
I think his great qualities were that he was kind, he was generous (and he was aways smiling).
May he rest in peace and rise in glory.
English
