A Tribute to Andrew Widdowson

Last Friday, Felsted was privileged to host the Memorial Service for Andrew Widdowson.  The turn out for the occasion showed the impact that Andrew had on the lives of so many people, both during his time at Felsted and elsewhere in life.
 

Andrew was a pupil at Strathallan School, where he gained a reputation as a fine student and an excellent sportsman, showing particular promise on the rugby pitch.  After Strathallan, he studied at Edinburgh University, before coming down to Oxford University.  He was seen as a good back row prospect, until one day in December, he suffered a life changing injury on the rugby field.

After several months of rehabilitation at Stoke Mandeville, Andrew had recovered enough to consider what to do next, and the Headmaster at Felsted at the time, Tony Eggleston, reached out to see whether he would like to come and teach Maths.  Andrew's father and uncle had been pupils at Felsted, which made the connection, and so Andrew arrived at Felsted in 1982.  At the time, accessibility for wheelchairs was pretty low on the list of priorities for most places, and Felsted had to make some rapid adjustments in order to enable Andrew to get around the site.
 

Despite the rugby injury, Andrew remained a great champion of the sport, and a great supporter (and even coach) while at Felsted.  He was a fine Maths teacher, who gained a reputation for really caring about every child's progress, and was especially effective with those who found it hard.  In the end, Andrew taught for 30 years and would have loved to continue, but his health was not good, and he could not risk suffering an infection, in case of further complications.  He remained in the village for a few more years, and was a regular visitor to the Chequers, a supporter of school sport, and someone who brought a smile to every event that he attended.

It was a privilege for me to get to know Andrew, and I think that everyone who knew him would probably say the same.  He never complained, he was always positive, and he was a paragon of humility.  One of the lines at the memorial really captured his essence for me.  One of the speakers, who had played in that fateful match in the early 1980s, said that all his life he had been concerned that everyone had to look down to speak to Andrew in his chair, but what he realised in the end was that everyone had actually been looking up to Andrew for all his life.

RIP Andrew.  One of the very best.

Chris