John Lester
His initial involvement might have been a bit before your time but he regularly paid over and above the annual subscription, he personally established and manned a bring and buy stall, often stocked with sundials and astrolabes made by himself, at star parties and even donated his 8" SCT to be sold to raise funds (bought by Dave Whylie).
SteveT had a close relationship with him over a couple of projects, I have sent Steve the news.
Cheers.
Peter.
John Bradbury
Eulogy from August 2023 by Peter Drew ...Director of the Astronomy Centre Todmorden.
"We are here today to pay tribute to the life and memory of Wendy Rath. A remarkable and possibly unique person. How many of you know someone else that had a vast collection of slide rules and examples of different types of barbed wire.
Wendy had a distinguished career as a BBC sound engineer, she also held a pilots licence and world records in the sport of archery. She hasd a obsession with detail and the accuracy of details, the phrase `near enough` was not in her vocabularly.
I first met Wendy almost exactly 50 years ago when I made her a bespoke telescope, we remained friends ever since.Wendy joined the Astronomy Centre at an early stage of the project her member number is 72, the current chronological number is 3448. Wendy was a core member of the team that was responsible for the advancement of the project. Wendy was more than a member and supporter, she was also a benefactor. She paid to replace materials stolen during the main dome construction, she also paid for materials for the access road and gate next to the observatory. In recognition of all this she was awarded life membership .
To sum up, why here? Wendy said that The Astronomy Centre provided her happiest times and it was her wish that her final resting place be here. After such a profound compliment there is nothing further to say so I will leave you with that thought and thank you all for coming today."