I would like to thank everyone for coming today to celebrate the life of my husband, Richard Johnson. It is a wonderful tribute to him that so many of you have been able to come, and in keeping with his bright, jovial and sometimes rather eccentric personality, have worn something bright and cheerful on what might otherwise be a very sad and solemn occasion. That is not to say that this is those things too; I am devastated to have lost Richard to leukaemia, just when we thought we had gotten away with it, having ‘stolen’ an extra 8 years together from the time of his life-saving bone marrow transplant in 2010. However, God in his mercy has called him, and seeing Richard’s suffering over recent months, I cannot argue with that, but be thankful that he has now gone to a better place. I grieve for him every day, but I hope with time, the pain will ease as I remember instead all the good times we had together, and as a family with our 3 children – Chris, Kate and Caroline.
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Many of you will have known Richard for longer than me; we first met in 1982 when I re-joined UEA and we married in 1987. Richard was one of the early employees at UEA, joining in 1969 fresh from Norwich Art School. He was appointed by the late Malcolm Freegard, who famously fell asleep during Richard’s interview – well, it was in the afternoon after a rather good lunch. The young Richard didn’t know what to do, so sat uncomfortably in his chair and waited. Eventually the great man stirred and with a start opened his eyes and said, “Well I think we got to the bottom of that! When can you start?”
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Richard enjoyed a long and happy career at UEA as a Graphics Designer, working with Evelyn Mould and joined later by Ian Brooke and Donna Youngs. Donna will be saying a few words about her experience of working with Richard, later on. Sadly, due to restructuring, Richard was made redundant in 1996 but with his typical energy and enthusiasm for graphics, set up a freelance business, which he ran (while I did the accounts – Richard wasn’t great with paperwork) until he retired in 2014. We were always very grateful for the support of ex-colleagues at UEA who kept him supplied with graphics jobs for many of his freelance years.
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Richard had another side to his life and character – which pre-dated his life as a creative. His interest in amateur radio began (so he told me) when he was 11, and it was an interest he kept throughout his life. His friend of many years, David Johnson will be giving you a flavour of Richard the radio ham, and all I will add is that even in his last months, he was still scribbling notes, diagrams and doing calculations to improve the design of his antennas. Unfortunately, while his mind was still sharp, his body wasn’t cooperating. The rest you know.
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An extremely important part of Richard’s life, was his family. He was a family man through and through. A modern, loving husband and father who took an active part in changing nappies, doing the school run, attending Christmas plays (which got more and more obscure as the years passed), taking the kids to their sports clubs and generally encouraging his children to do their best. He was, in many ways, a big kid himself, who found it hard to resist setting off all the battery-driven toys in Tesco as he spotted them. I used to walk away, trying to disassociate myself… But he had a sense of fun that was infectious and we had lots of laughs together. He was full of stories – as many of you will know - and was able to see the funny side of most situations. We did everything together, we made all our decisions together, and we talked constantly to each other. I loved him, and I shall miss him more than I can say.
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Richard, I know I have to let you go now, but I take comfort that we shall meet again one day. In the meantime I will go on talking to you and think about what you might say or do when I have to decide things without you….
And finally - as we discussed - if you want to occasionally come back and haunt me at The Hollies, that’s alright too…….
Lynda