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1934 - 2005
John Evans died on the 17th April 2005 at his home in Reading.
He was at Clayesmore from 1947 to 1952 and distinguished himself as an actor and
an accomplished swimmer who won the diving event on sports day in two
consecutive years.
John Mervyn Evans was born on the 6th February 1934, the son of Major Gilbert
Evans, who had recently retired as Deputy Surveyor General in Nigeria. His
father was an Old Rugbean who thought that neither of his sons would survive
Rugby as he knew it! John was brought up at his parents' home, Tregurnow Cliff,
at Lamorna, near Penzance. From the earliest years he had a passion for
agriculture and from the age of three, was ‘helping’ at the nearby farm! Living
within half a mile from the sea, sailing also soon became a major interest.
From his prep school, Park House at Paignton in Devon, he won a scholarship to
Clayesmore which he found quite a liberating experience after his rather
Victorian prep school. Terms at Clayesmore were interspersed with glorious
summer holidays spent mostly messing about in boats at Lamorna Cove and on the
farm. Clayesmorians of course came down too: Humphrey Moore turned up with a
group of boys on a botanical trip to Cornwall and Carl Verrinder came down one
year with a group of climbers. John’s life was never dull; on one occasion on a
skiing trip to Austria with Carl Verrinder, the whole lot of them were swept
away in an avalanche!
After Clayesmore, John took a degree in agriculture at Reading University which
is where he met Jill, his wife to be. At that time, National Service was still
in force and after fairly gruesome basic training he was commissioned as a
Second Lieutenant in the Royal Artillery. Two years later, he joined the
Ministry of Agriculture as an Agricultural Adviser and he and Jill moved to his
first posting in Lincolnshire. Subsequent postings were at St Clears in
Carmarthenshire and later at Brecon, where he was a lay Clerk at the Cathedral.
His final posting was to Reading, where he was Socio-economic Adviser to The
Agricultural Development and Advisory Service for the South East Region. At a
time when farming was in decline, this involved helping farmers to develop new
enterprises such as rural workshops and tourism.
In his fifties, he suffered a heart attack, which meant early retirement. He
bought a Warrior 35 yacht and spent from April to October for many years,
sailing among the Greek Islands and friends from England would go out and join
him for a week or so. His outgoing personality meant that he made many friends
in the area and was known to the Islanders as “Papa Ianis”.
In the last two or three years, having had two strokes his health was failing.
The yacht was sold and he took up an interest in horse racing. In the week
before his death he had been to four race meetings. John leaves a widow, Jill,
two sons and a daughter, together with three grandchildren.
David Evans (52-56)