David died on Tuesday 27 August in the Pellegrin Hospital with his eldest daughter, Becky, at his bedside.
Starting shortly after the first anniversary of his wife Annette’s death, his Parkinson’s took an increasing hold and he had got to the point of not wishing his life to continue and so he is now at peace.
We first met David and Annette when we moved to Bordeaux nearly four years ago. They had done the same as us but two years previously; moving from a large place in the country to Bordeaux, settling in Caudéran too. They had made many friends in the Dordogne and were doing the same in Bordeaux. They were those kind of people.
But this is about David and I have a quote from Annette’s “Memories”, which David finalised, which sums him up beautifully. He had been questioned by Annette on his impressions of South Africa, her native land, towards the end of his first visit with her : “But cautious and logical David is not giving me the answer I want. The engineer in him starts explaining. “The infrastructure is very well developed, and we’re seeing many people, black and white, driving expensive cars, but we know that the contrast between rich and poor is as stark as in the rest of Africa. Here, we’re in a leafy suburb of gracious houses with big gardens, but if we drive south or east we would find huge locations surrounded by squatter camps, many of them full of hungry and unemployed people.” He senses that I want to hear something different, looks at me and smiles: “But it’s the place that produced my Johannesburg princess, so that’s good enough for me.””
So, cautious and logical he was but a very kind and gentle man with a great sense of humour where appropriate and a wide knowledge of musical culture but not “Boy Bands”, as became a standing joke at the BBC quiz. He was born in Prestbury, Cheshire and educated in Manchester followed by an engineering degree at Cambridge. He joined a large engineering company and quickly found himself in Vancouver from where he was sent to the middle of nowhere as supervising engineer on a bridge project. His surprise was that it was a wooden bridge. Following his time there, he became involved in road safety aspects of design and construction. He gained a worldwide reputation in this field and his last job was in Geneva with the Red Cross where they lived for ten years before retirement in the Dordogne.
He leaves three daughters, Becky, Tammie and Megan and our special condolences go out to them, the grandchildren and to Kate Kemp who was a great friend of Annette’s and whom she asked to look after David after she had gone.
He leaves a deep impression on many good friends. We all miss him.
Chris Rankin – 4th September 2024 David passed away in peaceDavid and Annette were like bookends….they belong together and now are.
On numerous occasions I had the pleasure to meet with both David and Annette at various BBC events and their home.
I enjoyed very much their company and our conversations,
He will be missed,
Brian Mason – Association President