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John Lancaster

Page history last edited by Ian Gillis 1 year ago Saved with comment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo Jan 2020

 

Ian R

I’m sorry to have to pass on the news that John Lancaster passed away yesterday (Ed: 18th February 2023). John was so gracious to me when I started as a young bean-counter at WRW; he was so friendly and without doubt, as a 16 year old just out of school, helped me feel confident about dealing with senior people.

 

Info from John's daughter

There will be a Thanksgiving Service to celebrate the life of John on 31st March at 1.30pm at Springfield Park Baptist Church, Chelmsford.

This will be followed by refreshments. All are welcome.

The service will be live streamed (details to follow)

Donations in memory of John will go to Farleigh Hospice.

There is a "much loved" tribute page for thoughts and donations.

 

 

Steve B

John had a lengthy career with Marconi and my recollections cover only a small part of it.

At one time, maybe in the 80s, John was Section Leader of a group engaged on a miscellany of projects. We were like an outpost of the empire as we were accommodated on the first floor of A building overlooking Writtle Road, rather than in E Block. I was running a project for the second major update to 2 simulator systems that we supplied in the early 70s to the Egyptian Air Force. John was appointed as the Company's rep to the ACCSCO consortium and I was to be his number 2. ACCSCO was a grouping of several of Europe's defence contractors that came together with the aim of influencing the spec. for and subsequently implementing NATOs new Air Command and Control System. Meetings were held on a rotating basis at each of the members offices. We thus travelled regularly to Munich (Siemens), Ulm (AEG Telefunken), Rome (Selenia), Brussels (a branch of Philips), Addlestone (Plessey). Not a lot came out of these meetings but the camaraderie was great, as was the food. Whenever we went out for dinner we had to find a public phone box so John could call home - he wouldn't use hotel phones, even when they were free and of course no mobiles in those days.

Our ways parted after this and I seem to remember John moving on to the  SIMCATS project but I could be wrong.

Apart from project work John was very active with the Company's Christian Fellowship.

RIP John.

 

Ian G

John was more a friend to me than a colleague, but we shared an interest in Air Traffic Control and its procedures and jointly helped Marconi Radar during its excursions into ATC during the occasional outbreak of peace. He was a friendly and charming person who devoted his Christian faith and much of his life to helping others, including charities associated with the cancer that tragically took his beloved wife Joyce in 2002. He and I shared a long-running joke about the plethora of acronyms used in ATC - let's hope he took a STAR to Heaven's TMA with no STCAs and will forever RIP.

 

Alan M

Though I have known John for many years, I never worked with him, except for a very short time on Fur Hat when he was a system designer with Arthur Young and Derek Watkins.

I believe he mostly dealt after that with ATC issues while I essentially worked on defence radars.

I always found him to be very easy and pleasant to work with and admired his contributions to social issues.

In fact when I was recovering from my heart bypass and other afflictions he was often at the hospital helping to supply newspapers, food etc.

He was a genuinely good man who worked very effectively in a quiet, modest and very effective way to help all if possible.

 

 

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