Gordon Prince - Previous Treasurer 1992-2002

(31 May 1927  - 4 June 2018)  Kissing gate memorial located at Grid Ref: SU924507

Gordon was born on 31st May 1927 in Southampton. Like many, he was evacuated during the war to Bournemouth, but only from Monday to Friday (presumably trusting the Luftwaffe didn’t work weekends?). He excelled at science and won a place at Oxford to study Chemistry in 1944. After graduating, he worked in research for a few years at the North Thames Gas Board, before joining British Titan Products (which became Tioxide) in 1954 as a sales rep, finally retiring at the end of 1987 as Sales Operations Manager. He married Audrey Long, a nurse, in 1954 and they had two children – Richard and Sue – who both followed Gordon to Oxford, a fact of which he was very proud.

After Audrey's death in 1993, Gordon had the time to be able to follow a range of interests. Along with foreign travel and his participation in U3A and Probus, he was a keen and active member of Kingston Ramblers in the 1990s – serving as Treasurer from 1992 to 2002. After a remarkably healthy life, some medical issues developed. An early 1990s heart attack was followed by pancreatic cancer in 2001 and prostate cancer in 2011. He was very proud to have survived pancreatic cancer – and must have been only one of a handful of people to live for 17 years after diagnosis. Although his walking days were largely over, he remained an enthusiastic participant in Ramblers’ social events. He was very grateful for the visits, letters and other contacts from friends during the final phase of his life. He passed away peacefully and painlessly on the morning of 4th June 2018 at the age of 91 (and 4 days) – just as he hoped.