Obituaries

A WOMAN who devoted much of her time to starting Pan Carnival has died.
Violet May Stone, 88, was born in October, 1920, and was the daughter of Samuel and Ethel Newton. She was one of nine children.

A KEEN darts player who won many titles, Marjorie Olwyn Fryer, has died, aged 75.
Born in Islington, London, Mrs Fryer was evacuated to Mevagissey, Cornwall, during the Second World War.

HAROLD Ernest Moody, a well-known Newport farmer, has died while working on his land, aged 75.
Born on September 10, 1933, to Ernest and Annie Moody, he attended schools at Northwood and Cowes.

A FORMER mayor of South Wight Borough Council, Capt George William Buttle, has died, aged 93.
Born in Stockton, Cleveland, Capt Buttle left school aged 14 to work in a steel mill, before he joined the army.

AN ISLAND man well known as a poet, musician and writer, Geoffrey Frank Bedford Watts, died at Fairhaven Care Home, Ryde, on May 20, aged 90.
Born in Newmarket, Suffolk, on May 27, 1918, Mr Watts was educated at King’s School, Ely, Cambridgeshire. He was confirmed into the Church of England at Ely Cathedral.

A FORMER Island man who spent his entire working life in the photographic processing industry, Robert Neill Hunter, died, aged 78, at Colchester General Hospital on Wednesday last week.

A FORMER chairman of Niton football and cricket clubs, Albert (Bert) Henry Sealey, has died, aged 94.
Born in Niton, Mr Sealey was raised by his grandparents, Solomon and Caroline Best, after his mother, Alice, died in 1916, followed a year later by the death of his father, Walter.

A FORMER stone mason and wood carver, William (Bill) Birch, has died, aged 74.
Mr Birch, of Trafalgar Road, Newport, served in the Royal Engineers, before he became a stonemason and wood carver.

MAUREEN Stolworthy, a well-known and well respected former county councillor, who held the post of chairman of education for 14 years, has died at the age of 77.

ONE of Cowes’s best known characters and founder of internationally renowned Spencer Rigging has died.
Harry Spencer, MBE, was born in Gurnard in September, 1925. He lived with his parents in Cowes and was educated at Denmark Road School.

RETIRED Bishop of Carlisle David Halsey, a well-known Seaview resident, died in Norwich on Saturday, aged 90.
Born in Long Ditton, Surrey, on January 27, 1919, he was the youngest of two sons born to to George and Gladys Halsey.

A FORMER company commander of the IW Army Cadet Force, Andrew Colleypriest, has died, aged 55.
Mr Colleypriest was born in Wootton, on June 25, 1953.

FORMER merchant seaman Donald Leslie Solley has died, aged 87.

A FORMER commodore of the Island Sailing Club, William Michael (Mike) Henderson, has died, aged 85.
Mr Henderson, of Westhill Road, Cowes, was born in London, on August 26, 1924.

ANNETTE Martin, who died last month, aged 76, was a talented, natural and inspiring music and singing teacher.
She trained at Trinity College, London, in the 1950s and completed a post-graduate course in music therapy in 1986.