In memory of Maurice Steeles
Memories of Maurice Steeles
The timescale of the past becomes blurred with the passing of the years so I’m not exactly sure when I first met Maurice. I would guess that it was in the mid-1980s, by which time the Society was well established and the late Dennis Johncock and his friend Maurice offered to take on the publicising and sale of Society promotional material. Their offer was gladly accepted and thereafter, for some years, they were ever-presents on their Society promo material stand at regional meetings and conferences. They were unpaid, and as attendance at distant regional meetings invariably led to the mandatory Chinese or Indian meal social-event their involvement must have been an expensive one! My strongest memory of Maurice during that period was at the end of these social meals, when he did a good imitation of a human vacuum cleaner in finishing off any remnants of others’ meals - and the hotter the better.
Ill-health dogged him in his later years, and he bravely fought cancer over a long period of time. Via his friend Derek Stritton’s instigation he was a regular attendee at the July Horseshoe events for as long as he could make the journey, but, sadly, his cancer caught up with him in the end.
He was always good company, and his voluntary contribution to the Society cause was an invaluable asset. He will be remembered with affection by those who knew him well. Thanks Maurice; you played your part in help making the Society the institution it is today.
Tim Paisley on behalf of the Society.
Maurice (left) with his ice-cream eating friend Dennis Johncock on the Society promotions stand at an early 90s conference. Mary Paisley’s daughter Kate makes up the trio.
