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Extended Obituary page for :-
Dick Allison
Remembering Dick Allison :- A Compilation of his friend's recollections by
Trefor Busby.
Last year we lost one of the giants of ICL Tech Support - a small man who
cast a huge shadow!
Several of us who were lucky enough to enjoy his company over the years
have combined our favourite memories of Dick to produce this short tribute.
Oh how we miss that raucous laugh of his ringing out – he brightened any room!
Rumour has it that many years ago Dick trained as a Lighterman on the
Thames, although this career was severely limited when his barge hit a bridge!
So he moved on to Computers – where some of his old skills were useful –
he was well known for ‘vibration testing’ 2980s with a plank of wood!
Bob McLeod knew Dick for over 50 years.- they both worked for Derek
Caston on the 1902, Dick had previously worked on the EMIDEC. Then
came the 1900s, then the 2900 P Series where Dick managed a Tech Support
team, later the Series 39.
Dick had such a competitive nature that he would never accept defeat –
whether playing cards fixing a hardware fault or running marathons, or involved
in a static rowing race in the gym. He just would not admit defeat! Engineers
watched in amazement as he spent hours lying across the top of the 1907 machine
at Southampton U - very gently separating the fixed wiring thro’ the magnetic
cores of the memory bank. Took him hours - but it worked!
Another amazing sight (years later) was Dick, with a broken collar bone,
practising one armed press-ups in the gym – on his ‘bad’ arm - the broken
bone jutting out of his shoulder at every push – but he just carried on!
He was a great fan of water skiing and trained his daughters to drive his speed
boat. His boats/engines were the same as his pals - but his always seemed that
bit faster Later he switched to windsurfing and even competed in an event sailing
around Hayling Island called Surfers against Sewage! Then he took up horse
riding and had trips across Dartmoor. As the years took their toll on his running
legs he switched to cycling – still competing with anyone who dared!
Many of the tech support fraternity remember Dick for his unique management
style. Your phone rings at 0300 and there’s Dick on the line: “There’s a problem
at Acme Soap Works”.
Then – silence..........after waiting and waiting,,,, you felt obliged to chip in with
“Er, shall I go there Dick”. ”Yes, thanks”, end of call. Off you went - only later
did you realise that once again he’d got you to volunteer without him asking!
After retirement Dick slowly sank into the sad and lonely world of dementia -
his wonderful laugh was not heard again. He passed away last October (2016)
and is sadly missed by his family and old colleagues.
Thanks to Bob McLeod, Alan Watson, Les Rollinson and Derek Bibby for
sharing their memories with us. Yea , we miss him greatly, as a friend, colleague
and great all rounder. One of a kind!
Trefor Busby
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Remembering Dick Allison :- A Compilation of his friend's recollections by Trefor Busby. Last year we lost one of the giants of ICL Tech Support - a small man who cast a huge shadow! Several of us who were lucky enough to enjoy his company over the years have combined our favourite memories of Dick to produce this short tribute. Oh how we miss that raucous laugh of his ringing out – he brightened any room! Rumour has it that many years ago Dick trained as a Lighterman on the Thames, although this career was severely limited when his barge hit a bridge! So he moved on to Computers – where some of his old skills were useful – he was well known for ‘vibration testing’ 2980s with a plank of wood! Bob McLeod knew Dick for over 50 years.- they both worked for Derek Caston on the 1902, Dick had previously worked on the EMIDEC. Then came the 1900s, then the 2900 P Series where Dick managed a Tech Support team, later the Series 39. Dick had such a competitive nature that he would never accept defeat – whether playing cards fixing a hardware fault or running marathons, or involved in a static rowing race in the gym. He just would not admit defeat! Engineers watched in amazement as he spent hours lying across the top of the 1907 machine at Southampton U - very gently separating the fixed wiring thro’ the magnetic cores of the memory bank. Took him hours - but it worked! Another amazing sight (years later) was Dick, with a broken collar bone, practising one armed press-ups in the gym – on his ‘bad’ arm - the broken bone jutting out of his shoulder at every push – but he just carried on! He was a great fan of water skiing and trained his daughters to drive his speed boat. His boats/engines were the same as his pals - but his always seemed that bit faster Later he switched to windsurfing and even competed in an event sailing around Hayling Island called Surfers against Sewage! Then he took up horse riding and had trips across Dartmoor. As the years took their toll on his running legs he switched to cycling – still competing with anyone who dared! Many of the tech support fraternity remember Dick for his unique management style. Your phone rings at 0300 and there’s Dick on the line: “There’s a problem at Acme Soap Works”. Then – silence..........after waiting and waiting,,,, you felt obliged to chip in with “Er, shall I go there Dick”. ”Yes, thanks”, end of call. Off you went - only later did you realise that once again he’d got you to volunteer without him asking! After retirement Dick slowly sank into the sad and lonely world of dementia - his wonderful laugh was not heard again. He passed away last October (2016) and is sadly missed by his family and old colleagues. Thanks to Bob McLeod, Alan Watson, Les Rollinson and Derek Bibby for sharing their memories with us. Yea , we miss him greatly, as a friend, colleague and great all rounder. One of a kind! Trefor Busby
a 'POPUP' and 'FRAMES' free zone. Compatible With Explorer, Firefox, Fresco, Google Chrome, also Pocket PC and IPhone/Ipad
All content is Copyright and opinions expressed are the views of the respective Authors as annotated !
At no time are the views published stated to be endorsed by Fujitsu.
All visitors to Shedland accept the the following limitations
This is a private web site, the views expressed are the Web Masters and content is placed here for information only. However the Web Master is not responsible for any inaccuracies, Typo's or Spelling mistakes, they are provided free gratis to the visitor.