Obituaries

Stephen Page C57

Stephen Page was born in Claygate, Surrey on 28^th February 1939. He was the eldest of four children including brother Andrew (C66). Having attended Wadham House in Cheshire, he followed his father’s footsteps (C.E.S Page C32) and entered Canford in 1952 as one of the first second generation Pages, the ninth member of the family to attend.

Stephen thoroughly enjoyed his time at the school and it remained a special place for him throughout his life – he even took his wife Marjorie there when they honeymooned in Bournemouth ! He was very pleased to produce third generation attendees – David (C83), Mike (C85) and Julia (C87) - at the time that took the family total number to eighteen Canfordians and there may well have been more of the extended family since !

Having achieved good A-levels in Maths, Chemistry and Physics Stephen went on to study Chemical Engineering at Imperial College, London and a thirty-year career at BP Chemicals followed, with the family based in South Wales. After early retirement he became a magistrate, was appointed a JP and trained as a schools’ inspector.

Stephen loved to follow most sports but was particularly passionate about the many ups and downs of England cricket. As a young lad sitting on the boundary rope at Headingley, he witnessed Fred Trueman tearing through the 1952 Indian touring team, having them 0 for 4 ! He was also an avid follower of rugby although as a proud Englishman he had the misfortune to raise a Welsh-born family in what was the finest era in the history of Welsh rugby ! His main hobby was entering “Word” competitions which were typically promoting household products and his winnings over many years included around forty holidays and over twenty cars !

Stephen passed away peacefully in Cardiff on 26^th July 2023 after a short illness, leaving three children and eight grandchildren.