obituary

15^th March 1946 – 21^st April 2020

Keith passed away peacefully at Compton Hospice on 21^st April 2020. A retired Consultant Paediatrician at New Cross Hospital for nearly 30 years, he was responsible for establishing the Neonatal Unit and was a greatly admired and respected doctor.

His retirement gift from his colleagues was a telescope. He had a love of science and planned to use his retirement to learn more about the sky. Owning a narrow boat, and travelling the waterways with his wife Sandra, gave him the perfect opportunity to sit on dark canal paths and look at the stars. His membership in the Wolverhampton Astronomical Society was very important to him and he always looked forward to his Monday night evenings. He enjoyed sharing this passion with his family, buying junior telescopes for the grandchildren, and regularly phoning to update them on what they could see in the sky. The whole family spent cold evenings waiting for clouds to disperse and stars to emerge, not always with success!

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By Phil Barnard

On 6 January 2020, I received the following sad news, reported on: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/merritt-island-fl/ronald-maddison-8979371

Ronald Charles Maddison passed away peacefully at the Advent Hospital in Orlando, aged 84. Ron will be lovingly remembered by his wife Margaret, dear father to Christopher, Julia and stepson Mark. Ron was born in Birmingham, England, where he taught Astrophysics for 33 years. He moved to Florida in 1991 and was Observatory Director at the BCC Planetarium until 2006. He was a great lover of steam trains, spending many happy hours building models.

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Dad was born in 1936 in Colchester as his father Tom Dovey was stationed in army barracks there at the time. Shortly after, the family relocated to Shropshire and Dad was raised in Sutton Maddock near Madeley. When Dad left school he held several forms of employment including coffin maker before commencing his stint in National Service. During this period Dad served in the Military Police and was mainly stationed in Germany. Upon leaving the army in the late 1950’s Dad joined the Police Force where he remained until the late 1960’s before successfully securing a job in what was then Wolverhampton Borough Council Finance Department based in the old Town Hall in North Street. Dad remained with the Council up until he retired in 1995.

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Simon Barnett

Simon Barnett, son of Leslie and Helga, was born in Scotland on January 4th 1966. The family soon moved to Helga’s homeland in Germany, where Simon went to Kindergarten, and he and Leslie then relocated to England when the latter’s marriage to Helga failed. Accordingly, Simon’s very early childhood was somewhat unsettled. They laid down roots in Cannock, Staffordshire, in 1974, when Leslie married Mary Oates. The new family – including Mary’s children, Philip and Carolyn – established a family home in Hatherton Road. Simon was eight years of age, just old enough to start school at Walhouse Junior School in the same year as his step-brother. The union of Leslie and Mary was a marriage that would last for almost forty years.

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by Phil Barnard

David Harris, who passed away on 1 July this year, is very fondly remembered as a founder member and long-standing supporter of Wolverhampton Astronomical Society. David will be lovingly remembered by his wife Mary, son Christopher and daughter Libby. On 12 July, several members of the Society attended David’s funeral at Bushbury Crematorium and his memorial service held at Beckminster Church.

The Society was formed officially in September 1952, from a pre-existing informal group of enthusiasts, initially as the Wolverhampton Amateur Astronomy Group. David would celebrate his 19th birthday in the following month. Meetings were held in a classroom at the old Walsall Street Institute. Even in those early days I recall David giving presentations on practical astronomy, both with telescope and binoculars, which was his forte. One item remembered from that time is a planetarium, shown by David and his father, made by poking holes in the desired places in an opened black umbrella, to represent the constellations. A simple but effective way to teach the geography of the night sky, in a room under artificial light or outside in daylight.

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