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John Skinner was a founder member of the DGS. He sadly died earlier this year. Below is his life history, taken from his memorial service.

John Victor Skinner

24th January, 1920 - 18th February, 2011

Son of Victor Octavius and Ruth Skinner, brother to Frank and Geoff Skinner, husband to Joy Skinner, father to Micael Skinner and Meriel Kiddy, grandfather to Victoria Collier, Richard and Miles Skinner, and Joanna and Tom Kiddy, and great-grandfater to Katie and Jake Collier, and Bruno and Digby Skinner.

John was born in Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire, in 1920. Soon after this his parents bought a farm in Fairlight, near Hastings. After a bad year for farming, the family moved to 465 Holloway Road, North London, where John's father set up business with a parner, E.B. Horne, supplying and repairing lorries. John's first memories are from this time. From here, he used to walk on his own to and from St John's Primary School further up the Holloway Road.

Business boomed and, around 1925, they developed the manufacture of coaches at a factory in High Wycombe, keeping the Holloway Road premises (known as Coaches and Components).

In the economic crash of 1929, the firm became much smaller, and the manufacture of coaches was discontinued. Holloway Road became a service staion repairing commercial vehicles, and Victor, while retaining some investment in the firm, entered a partnership to introduce steel wool into the country (from the USA). They had a factory in Palmers Green.

Brother Frank was born during the Holloway Road days.

In about 1925, the Skinner family moved to a modern semi-detached house in East Finchley, a complete change of social position and atmosphere, and this is when brother Geoff was born.

Prosperity led to another move to Frierne Barnet around 1927, to a large house with a double garage, a field and a tennis court, and John was sent to a Christian Science boarding prep school, which he hated from beginning to end. He believed his mother thought it godly, and thus necessarily good. The school was in Rustington-on-Sea, Sussex, but moved nearer to Littlehampton. John remarked that the only good thing about it was the beach, for daily walks and swimming in the summer.

In 1933, his parents could no longer afford to keep him there, and the family moved to New Barnet to a small Victorian red-brick two-storey house, detached by, as John said, 'six inches' from the neighbours' house... this was a come-down for the family.

However, he was sent to Queen Elizabeth's Grmmar School in Barnet, which wa a great success, and he left there at the age of 18, having already met Joy.

During these years, he enjoyed being a member of a swimming club in Victoria in London, where he was chosen to be trained up for the Olympics planned for 1940.

After school, he wanted to go to Oxford University, but was sent to work as a clerk at the City branch of Westminster Bank, where at times he had to hurry so much from one bank to another on time-sensitive errands that he would run under lorries stuck in the traffic. John hated the type of work at the bank, and convinced his father (for whom he had a high regard, much as we do for John) to let him go to university.

He went to Exeter University, after delaying for a year in expectation of a call to military duty, which then came in the middle of his first year, when he was commissioned into the Royal Artillery to fight in the Second World War. He trained on Salisbury Plain.

After a short time guarding the east coast (with 'ancient guns and no ammunition'), he was sent to the Middle East via South Africa, and served in Iraq, Egypt and Italy (where the tower from the top of which he was observing was shelled, leaving him bewildered but alive halfway down the hill moments later, and wondering how he had got himself down the ladder in the tower - a close call indeed).

He married Joy on leave in October 1941 - a short celebration but a long and loving marriage lasting over 63 years, until her death on March 18th, 2005.

John Michael Skinner as born on October 18th, 1942, followed by Meriel Joy Skinner on September 29th, 1946.

John was de-mobbed in September, 1946 and went on to St Peter's Hall at Oxford University, to complete a degree in Modern Languages in 1949, moving on to teach the subject at Sevenoaks School later that year.

Interests he developed at this time included sailing, Scottish country dancing, yoga and Buddhism... and a penchant for walking on the beach on his hands as opportunities arose. This, his gently dry sense of humour, and his recitals of Stanley Holloway monologues delighted his family on many occasions over the years.

The whole family embarked at Southampton to sail to Singapore in the summer of 1955, where John taught English at Beatty Secondary School until 1960. (When John and Joy returned, not previously announced, on holiday in 1987, a group of his pupils, now very successful adults, got together and took them out for a meal at a restaurant in appreciation of his efforts.)

The Skinners returned to England in 1960, on Singapore gaining independence, and John spent the autumn term at Canford School, where he declined a permanent position in order to move closer to London.

1961 brought spring and summer terms at Haberdashers' Aske's School; again a permanent position was declined - this time in order to return to Dorset.

In the summer of 1961, the family moved to Shaftsbury, with John (and late Joy too) teaching at Clayesmore School, where John became a housemaster in 1964. They retired to the Old Bakery in Iwerne Minster in 1984, and John spent much of his time going for walks, swimming, meditating, guitar playing, gardening, visiting the beach and taking camping holidays with Joy in France. There was also the occasional cruise or long distance holiday, and, in later years, lip-reading classes to help with the gradual loss of hearing. Cryptic crosswords, Scrabble and Countdown were also steadfast hobbies.

In 2002, John and Joy moved to a flat in Poole, which John left in 2007 to live with Michael and Belinda (his daughter-in-law) until 2009.

He spent his last two years at Branksome Park Care Home, where he enjoyed excellent care and regular family visits.