John Anthony Jefferis (Wf 47-53) passed away on 20 May 2024. We are grateful to his daughter, Lucy Powell, for this obituary:
My father John led a full life and made the most of his opportunities. At Bloxham he especially enjoyed subjects involving rules and logic. During National Service he was a member of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers’ Rifle Team. John studied mechanical engineering at Jesus College, Cambridge – at the suggestion of his Bloxham maths teacher. He rowed in the college first boat, winning the Fairburn Cup in 1957.
John completed an electrical engineering apprenticeship before returning to Cambridge; he married my mother Nancy the day after he completed the experiments for his PhD thesis. John joined Timsons Engineering, Kettering, in research and development, retiring from the company aged 65. As a churchwarden at SS Peter and Paul, Kettering, he was a leading member of the tower and spire restoration team.
In retirement John shared his knowledge, lecturing in higher education. He was elected to the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers and made a Freeman, later a Liveryman, of the City of London in recognition of his lifetime’s work in the printing industry. He enjoyed Old Bloxhamist dinners and was pleased to offer Stationers’ Hall as a lunch venue for The Egerton Society.
He will be greatly missed by my mother, my brother Timothy, myself, his grandchildren and extended family.
