Martin Holloway (August 27, 1944 – June 24, 2024)
Years at school: late 1950s
Martin Holloway was a pupil at Bishop Wordsworth’s School in the late 1950s where he got to know the Browning brothers Geoff and Jerry and their sister, Susan, who later became his wife and my mother. Not to mention Malcolm Keppie who decades later became my first Latin teacher, introducing me to the subject I would go on to study at Oxford.
From the constant references that peppered my childhood I was aware of my father’s connection to the school and the central role it played in forming so much of his character.
But that was nothing compared to the excitement I witnessed when, in the 2010s, he became actively involved in the work of the Old Wordsworthians’ Association. I didn’t realise during those joyful conversations as he shared the thrill he got from contributing a continuing thread to the intricate tapestry of the school, that they would be the last we would have before dementia took hold and his mind unravelled as. But I am delighted we had them.
In the intervening years, he sailed the world with the merchant navy, was part of a successful band, sailed model boats, married, cared for dogs and cats, shared a passion for engineering across Europe and North America, found love a second time later in life, scared countless passengers with his driving, amused and charmed countless more with his love of pocket squares, and regularly espoused the importance of wrapping up warm on winter days. But few of those things ran so deep or so lasting as his association with his old school.
Daniel Holloway
