A Tribute to my Dad

John Wiliam Bamford 1918 - 2002
A tribute to my Dad, who would have been 91 today.

He was a wonderful father who treated us three girls fairly, equally and lovingly. His wide ranging interests included the natural world, the arts, cricket, crosswords, gardening, walking, playing cards and his family and many friends. He rose to the top of his profession and held the post of City Treasurer of Westminster before he retired at the age of 60.

The photos, from top left clockwise are:

His reference letter from Kimbolton School dated 1934. He won a scholarship to the school, otherwise his parents would not have been able to afford the fees. He took a university scholarship exam before leaving and came second, the boy who won it would have gone anyway but Dad had to go out to work and trained as an accountant with the IMTA (Institute of Municipal Treasurers and Accountants).

Some photos when he joined the army - I imagine in 1939 or thereabouts. He's larking about in almost all of them - very typical, he was quite a practical joker with a wicked sense of humour.

Dad and Mum in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace when he was awarded the OBE. It was a wonderful day. This was in the early 1990s, many years after his retirement in 1978 and was in recognition of his charity work. The first thing Mum, my sister A and I did when we got inside was to check what the Queen's loos were like.

A still from the video of Dad receiving the OBE from the Queen. He was so proud of the Honour.

The scroll of Dad's appointment as a Knight of the Order of St John in 1985 again for his fundraising charity work with the St John organisation.

Dad's desk which I have in my office. It now has a computer on it - something he never had as he lost his sight completely over the late 1990s . The blindness was a terrible blow to someone who loved writing letters and reading as much as he did.

Some of Dad's books which I have in my house. I find it comforting just to have them around.

Dad's graduation from the Open University with an Arts degree - which he started after his retirement. He fell in love with Italy and Italian art and he and Mum started going abroad for their holidays for the first time. His sight was starting to fail while he was studying and he put his rest periods in examinations to good use - as he said 'I can rest my eyes but still think about the questions'.

Lastly, in the centre, is photo of him on holiday in Florence, probably in the 1980s.

Mum died on 2 August 2002 and Dad on 18 October the same year. I miss them both so much, it does not seem 7 years since they passed away. But we were so lucky to have them as long as we did, and both of them mentally alert until the end.