Mr Anthony H. Woollen (Chemistry 1943)

Provided by Mrs R Woollen.

Anthony Henry Wocllen was born on the 7th June 1923. He was educated at Finchley Catholic Grammar School and in 1940 he went to Imperial College and emerged three years later with a degree in Chemistry. He then volunteered to join the Royal Navy but was made to join the Army. Whilst on embarkation leave he fell ill with laryngitis and found on his return that his unit had left for the front. He eventually arrived in the Highlands of Kenya - a very pleasant place to be. The unit he missed went to Burma! The only threat of danger he experienced was when he and his companions were fleeing from a bush fire. They were running with great difficulty through waist high elephant grass, sparks were blowing over their heads and setting alight the ground ahead. Fortunately the wind changed and they all escaped unhurt.

His love of music inspired him to start a gramophone club which was very popular with everyone. He left the Army in 1947 with the rank of Captain - a title he never used. He then worked for various companies including British Oxygen Company, The Pyrene Company and Barnett & Foster - a company which produced soft drinks.

He became editor of Food Manufacture in 1958 and travelled all over the world visiting food and drinks factories. In 1979 he joined Soft Drinks and worked happily with the team there until his retirement in 1987. He continued for a good number of years to do freelance work It mainly for Food Processing, Food Ireland and The Encyclopaedia Britannica.

In his younger days he played the piano and the violin. Feeling dissatisfied with the quality of his violin he decided to make one. He discovered that he preferred making rather than playing and went on to make two more violins and ten guitars. He built a porch at the front of the house and a conservatory at the back and covered the side entrance with wood and glass creating a mini-greenhouse effect. He made six items of furniture for the house including a double wardrobe and two bookcases one with sliding glass panels. He also made countless model aeroplanes and ships. He loved working with wood. Another great love was writing and when his sons left home he would write a letter to them every week wherever in the world they might be with details of home news. He was keen on photography all his life and it was the one hobby he continued to enjoy almost to the end. He made all the albums himself and had just started on the last one when the Lord took him.

He was a deeply religious man and he was very happy when the Church became more ecumenical in outlook and he felt enriched when he was with Christians of other denominations. He led a very happy and ful¬filled life and died on the 9th May leaving me his widow, our three sons, five grandchildren and one brother.