*sad thoughts*
Nov. 22nd, 2007 04:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annwfynMy grandfather just died.
I called him Grandad when I was little, but as I grew older I, and my sisters, took to calling him 'OM', short for 'Old Man', which was what my aunt (his daughter) always called him. He was 92 when he died, having lived a really extraordinary life.
He was one of the first scientists to research the ozone layer. He delivered the first ever paper on the subject to the UN, back in the 1950s, and lived long enough to attend a conference held to mark the fiftieth anniversary of this at Oxford University. He was also one of the first scientists to address the UN on some of the issues thrown up by the development on the atomic bomb - specifically what effect these bombs had on the atmosphere and stratosphere.
He was a professor at Oxford University, MIT, and the University of Toronto.
He was a professor of meteorology, a highly skilled carpenter, and was a professional farmer for many years, keeping herds of sheep and cattle at his gorgeous farm in Devon until his late 70s.
He also kept several gallon drums of arsenic in his garden shed. He claimed it was to help his arthritis. No one knew why he needed quite so much, nor why he asked my sister if she could fetch him a small bottle of it when he was confined to a nursing home last year.
He feuded relentlessly with his neighbours over the boundary line between their houses, ultimately deciding to take matters into his own hands. He chopped down the boundary fence with a chainsaw. What was particularly alarming about this was that he was 90 years old at the time, and allegedly only able to walk with a zimmer frame.
He loathed the concept of taxation, and therefore always insisted on addressing all letters to the Inland Revenue with such phrases as 'To the Bloodsucking Leeches of the Government'. They always replied quite politely, which didn't deter him from continuing with his letter writing campaigns.
He only stopped doing handbrake turns in his car when he was in his seventies. He remained, however, a truly terrifying driver. I still remember with terror the one time he drove me from my home in Lambourn to the train station, twenty minutes away.
He was, in many ways, incredibly eccentric. I always thought that was because he was a genius, and that was what they did. I admired him, I loved him, and I will miss him terribly.
Rest in peace, OM.
I called him Grandad when I was little, but as I grew older I, and my sisters, took to calling him 'OM', short for 'Old Man', which was what my aunt (his daughter) always called him. He was 92 when he died, having lived a really extraordinary life.
He was one of the first scientists to research the ozone layer. He delivered the first ever paper on the subject to the UN, back in the 1950s, and lived long enough to attend a conference held to mark the fiftieth anniversary of this at Oxford University. He was also one of the first scientists to address the UN on some of the issues thrown up by the development on the atomic bomb - specifically what effect these bombs had on the atmosphere and stratosphere.
He was a professor at Oxford University, MIT, and the University of Toronto.
He was a professor of meteorology, a highly skilled carpenter, and was a professional farmer for many years, keeping herds of sheep and cattle at his gorgeous farm in Devon until his late 70s.
He also kept several gallon drums of arsenic in his garden shed. He claimed it was to help his arthritis. No one knew why he needed quite so much, nor why he asked my sister if she could fetch him a small bottle of it when he was confined to a nursing home last year.
He feuded relentlessly with his neighbours over the boundary line between their houses, ultimately deciding to take matters into his own hands. He chopped down the boundary fence with a chainsaw. What was particularly alarming about this was that he was 90 years old at the time, and allegedly only able to walk with a zimmer frame.
He loathed the concept of taxation, and therefore always insisted on addressing all letters to the Inland Revenue with such phrases as 'To the Bloodsucking Leeches of the Government'. They always replied quite politely, which didn't deter him from continuing with his letter writing campaigns.
He only stopped doing handbrake turns in his car when he was in his seventies. He remained, however, a truly terrifying driver. I still remember with terror the one time he drove me from my home in Lambourn to the train station, twenty minutes away.
He was, in many ways, incredibly eccentric. I always thought that was because he was a genius, and that was what they did. I admired him, I loved him, and I will miss him terribly.
Rest in peace, OM.
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no subject
Date: 2007-11-22 05:15 pm (UTC)~hugs~
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Date: 2007-11-22 05:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-22 05:21 pm (UTC)Keep your memories close and remember the days.
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Date: 2007-11-22 05:23 pm (UTC)He sounds like an amazing man an clearly someone who decided to be the exception to the rule that the candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long. I'm really sorry for your loss - my condolences.
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Date: 2007-11-22 05:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-22 05:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-22 05:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-22 05:46 pm (UTC)x
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Date: 2007-11-22 06:03 pm (UTC)I'm about if you want to chat.
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Date: 2007-11-22 06:03 pm (UTC)It's a rare and wonderful obituary that can make me grin with the anecdotes though - what a mad prof!
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Date: 2007-11-22 06:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-22 07:11 pm (UTC)Dang. This means I have to call Grandma.
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Date: 2007-11-22 07:13 pm (UTC)You know, your comment was the first thing that has made me smile since I found out.
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Date: 2007-11-22 07:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-22 07:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-22 09:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-22 10:06 pm (UTC)But it's good to keep good memories
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Date: 2007-11-22 10:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-22 11:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-23 07:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-23 08:46 am (UTC)My condolences to you and yours...
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Date: 2007-11-23 09:11 am (UTC)It does sound like he lead an amassing life.
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Date: 2007-11-23 05:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-24 05:08 am (UTC)I used to work for a government agency when I was in the UK, and letters addressed in a similar vein where, if nothing else, at least very interesting to read for everyone. (Certainly broke up the tedium.)
no subject
Date: 2007-11-24 09:04 am (UTC)xx