Mad McCann Posted May 12, 2016 Share Posted May 12, 2016 It's a measure of Jock's calibre as a human being that he touched so many lives in good ways. I hope that somewhere, somehow, you are back at Hurlford with your old man, Jock. RIP. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Brinkly Posted May 16, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 16, 2016 How I missed this is beyond me. I had no idea, poor Jack. He was always comment and chatting about Horrabridge. What a loss. R.I.P old boy. Nick. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sigtech Posted May 16, 2016 Share Posted May 16, 2016 Such sad news, Jock was a real gentleman, and I was unaware of the seriousness of his condition - he left many "likes" on my blog entries. I feel humbled, even though I never knew the man. R.I.P (67B) Steve. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted May 30, 2016 Share Posted May 30, 2016 This is my very much belated contribution to this thread about the passing of a true friend to RMWeb members. Jock and I exchanged PMs about illness, life experiences and railways. A huge cyber friend of mine I like to think - we have never met face to face despite living in the same county, albeit at opposite ends. His PMs and other posts on here gave me an insight into the sort of treatment he was having in order to deal with his illness. I would like to think that I would deal with similar health issues as well as Jock did but I suspect I would not. A true gentleman who will be greatly missed. My expressed feelings on here of course are insignificant compared to the loss that Jock's nearest and dearest are now feeling. My very belated condolences to his devoted wife and family. Hopefully, they will be proud of the way he dealt with his illness and his incredible positive attitude. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyB Posted June 3, 2016 Share Posted June 3, 2016 Dear all, A sad day today as it's Jock's funeral and I'm sure our thoughts will be with his family. Sometime ago his widow Joanna and daughter Karen asked if it would be possible for someone from RMweb to write a few words for the service as "Jock thought an awful lot of you all". I volunteered, and the words below will form part of today's service. "It is a great privilege to have been invited by Joanna to offer a few words about a dear friend, more so as I am writing them on behalf of an online community of railway modellers, known as RMweb, a community numbering nearly 30,000 people; of which Jack was a valued and much admired member. To us, Jack was known as “Jock 67B”. This may puzzle you, but is easily explained. When Jack was growing up in the 1950s locomotive depots each had a number. 67B was the number for “Hurlford shed”, adjacent to where Jack and his family lived and where his dad worked as an engine driver. The young “Jack” was thrilled sometimes to get a ride on the footplate, inspiring the passion and nostalgia he had for steam engines from this part of the world. Indeed, the avatar that he used shows him standing (very proudly) on one such locomotive. No surprise then that his ambition was to produce a model of this locomotive shed that held so many cherished memories for him. Sadly this wasn’t to be. One of the first messages that Jack wrote on RMweb asked for help to find out information about Hurlford shed. Almost as an aside he matter-of-factly stressed the urgency in his request as “I have recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer.” Over the coming, all too brief, years the Jack we came to know was in equal parts brave, realistic,dignified, and determined to fight his illness every step of the way; tellingly he never once asked for sympathy. Jack was a frequent contributor to one social part of the RMweb forum known as the “Early Risers”, a mammoth conversational thread running to some 5000 pages and 120 thousand comments with contributors from around the globe and from all walks of life. Subjects covered would meander from one topic to another as the conversation charted the highs and lows, the exciting and the mundane, the sublime, the ridiculous and the surreal in each of the contributors’ lives. Within those pages there is wit and whimsy, sadness and joy. Jack could always be relied on to read each and every person’s thoughts, generously offering support, encouragement, advice, or an amusing anecdote; this was all the more remarkable in light of his own life-threatening condition. Over time we came to learn more about Jack; his career in the automotive trade, his love of motorbikes and of Cornwall, and, most important to him, his family. Until recently he even had the patience to trawl through all the daily comments, offering a “digest of the day” to help everyone keep up with the flow of this ongoing digital conversation, responding to each contributor, giving solace, gentle advice, enquiring about a poorly relative or favourite pet, showing concern for anyone who had not posted a comment recently. It is no great surprise that Jack became a much loved, admired and respected mainstay of our digital lives. His genuine and caring nature reached around the planet and generated friendships in far-flung places, Australia, Canada, New York, Germany, the Isle of Mann, Scotland and France, to name but a few. Although similar in age to many of us, it doesn’t over state Jack’s contribution to describe him as something of a father figure, showing us the best that a person can be. By example his genuine and caring personality led us to be kinder and more considerate people. His contributions, both as a modeller and as a man are, and will be, missed very much indeed. It was through this ongoing conversation we came to know a little of you, his family, and how much he loved and cherished each of you. He was enormously proud of you all, taking delight in your many achievements, ever concerned for your welfare, ready to help wherever and whenever he was needed. We can only guess at the hole that Jack’s passing has left in your lives. Sadly the condition that claimed Jack continues to blight the lives of many within our digital community. It is, perhaps, fitting that the medium that brought Jack into our lives also provides us with a way of remembering and honouring our friend. With Joanna’s consent we are pleased to be opening a dedicated digital drop-in for those facing their own life-threatening illnesses – “Jock 67B’s Cancer Ward”. Finally, it was once said that a person never truly leaves us whilst the ripples from their time with us continue to spread. In providing a place for those in need to meet and share their experiences, their fears and their hopes Jack’s presence will not just be remembered, but will continue to grow and to enrich our lives in years to come. Rest peacefully, Jack. Your many friends at RMweb" In acknowledging receipt, Karen asked me to pass on the family's thanks for our support and continuing donations to Relay for Life in remembrance of Jack. "Hi Andy This is beautiful! Me and mum were in tears reading it. Mum has asked if you would kindly pass on our thanks to all the members for there support and generous donations for Jack's charity. Thank you AndyKind regards, Karen." 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Clive Mortimore Posted June 3, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 3, 2016 I hope all goes well today. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted June 3, 2016 Share Posted June 3, 2016 Thoughts are definitely in Clacton today. I know Andy.p and Peter BB are making the trip to attend the funeral. They carry, on our behalf, all of our thoughts and wishes which are so beautifully put into words by AndyB. RIP Jock 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightengine Posted June 3, 2016 Share Posted June 3, 2016 Hope you are meeting back with your Dad, riding together on the footplate and chatting away again. R.I.P. Jock. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium New Haven Neil Posted June 3, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 3, 2016 Karen's not the only one in tears. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gwiwer Posted June 3, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 3, 2016 Best wishes and every strength today. Let's all do Jock proud. Me? I'm in Cornwall and shall stop off at Poldark Mine to remember his association with that place. 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted June 3, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 3, 2016 My engine now is cold and still No water does my boiler fill My coal affords its flame no more My days of usefulness are o'er. My wheels deny their running speed No more my guiding hand they heed My whistle too has lost its tone Its shrill and thrilling sounds are gone. My valves are now thrown open wide My flanges all refuse to guide My clacks also, though once so strong Refuse to aid the busy throng. No more I feel each surging breath My steam is now condensed in death Life's railway over each station passed In death I'm stopped and rest at last. (Anon) 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted June 3, 2016 Share Posted June 3, 2016 Large Pacifics do not usually venture onto my little layout. But today there is a special, special. In honour of Jock, who I know loved these locomotives. RIP Sir 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Removed a/c Posted June 3, 2016 Share Posted June 3, 2016 What a beautiful eulogy. RIP Jock. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted June 3, 2016 Share Posted June 3, 2016 Dear all, A sad day today as it's Jock's funeral and I'm sure our thoughts will be with his family. Sometime ago his widow Joanna and daughter Karen asked if it would be possible for someone from RMweb to write a few words for the service as "Jock thought an awful lot of you all". I volunteered, and the words below will form part of today's service. "It is a great privilege to have been invited by Joanna to offer a few words about a dear friend, more so as I am writing them on behalf of an online community of railway modellers, known as RMweb, a community numbering nearly 30,000 people; of which Jack was a valued and much admired member. To us, Jack was known as “Jock 67B”. This may puzzle you, but is easily explained. When Jack was growing up in the 1950s locomotive depots each had a number. 67B was the number for “Hurlford shed”, adjacent to where Jack and his family lived and where his dad worked as an engine driver. The young “Jack” was thrilled sometimes to get a ride on the footplate, inspiring the passion and nostalgia he had for steam engines from this part of the world. Indeed, the avatar that he used shows him standing (very proudly) on one such locomotive. No surprise then that his ambition was to produce a model of this locomotive shed that held so many cherished memories for him. Sadly this wasn’t to be. One of the first messages that Jack wrote on RMweb asked for help to find out information about Hurlford shed. Almost as an aside he matter-of-factly stressed the urgency in his request as “I have recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer.” Over the coming, all too brief, years the Jack we came to know was in equal parts brave, realistic,dignified, and determined to fight his illness every step of the way; tellingly he never once asked for sympathy. Jack was a frequent contributor to one social part of the RMweb forum known as the “Early Risers”, a mammoth conversational thread running to some 5000 pages and 120 thousand comments with contributors from around the globe and from all walks of life. Subjects covered would meander from one topic to another as the conversation charted the highs and lows, the exciting and the mundane, the sublime, the ridiculous and the surreal in each of the contributors’ lives. Within those pages there is wit and whimsy, sadness and joy. Jack could always be relied on to read each and every person’s thoughts, generously offering support, encouragement, advice, or an amusing anecdote; this was all the more remarkable in light of his own life-threatening condition. Over time we came to learn more about Jack; his career in the automotive trade, his love of motorbikes and of Cornwall, and, most important to him, his family. Until recently he even had the patience to trawl through all the daily comments, offering a “digest of the day” to help everyone keep up with the flow of this ongoing digital conversation, responding to each contributor, giving solace, gentle advice, enquiring about a poorly relative or favourite pet, showing concern for anyone who had not posted a comment recently. It is no great surprise that Jack became a much loved, admired and respected mainstay of our digital lives. His genuine and caring nature reached around the planet and generated friendships in far-flung places, Australia, Canada, New York, Germany, the Isle of Mann, Scotland and France, to name but a few. Although similar in age to many of us, it doesn’t over state Jack’s contribution to describe him as something of a father figure, showing us the best that a person can be. By example his genuine and caring personality led us to be kinder and more considerate people. His contributions, both as a modeller and as a man are, and will be, missed very much indeed. It was through this ongoing conversation we came to know a little of you, his family, and how much he loved and cherished each of you. He was enormously proud of you all, taking delight in your many achievements, ever concerned for your welfare, ready to help wherever and whenever he was needed. We can only guess at the hole that Jack’s passing has left in your lives. Sadly the condition that claimed Jack continues to blight the lives of many within our digital community. It is, perhaps, fitting that the medium that brought Jack into our lives also provides us with a way of remembering and honouring our friend. With Joanna’s consent we are pleased to be opening a dedicated digital drop-in for those facing their own life-threatening illnesses – “Jock 67B’s Cancer Ward”. Finally, it was once said that a person never truly leaves us whilst the ripples from their time with us continue to spread. In providing a place for those in need to meet and share their experiences, their fears and their hopes Jack’s presence will not just be remembered, but will continue to grow and to enrich our lives in years to come. Rest peacefully, Jack. Your many friends at RMweb" In acknowledging receipt, Karen asked me to pass on the family's thanks for our support and continuing donations to Relay for Life in remembrance of Jack. "Hi Andy This is beautiful! Me and mum were in tears reading it. Mum has asked if you would kindly pass on our thanks to all the members for there support and generous donations for Jack's charity. Thank you Andy Kind regards, Karen." My engine now is cold and still No water does my boiler fill My coal affords its flame no more My days of usefulness are o'er. My wheels deny their running speed No more my guiding hand they heed My whistle too has lost its tone Its shrill and thrilling sounds are gone. My valves are now thrown open wide My flanges all refuse to guide My clacks also, though once so strong Refuse to aid the busy throng. No more I feel each surging breath My steam is now condensed in death Life's railway over each station passed In death I'm stopped and rest at last. (Anon) Words can't always fully convey the emotion and strength of feeling at such a time but these come very very close. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted June 3, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 3, 2016 AndyB I don't think anyone could have put things better very well said. Jock would have been touched. I am pleased the family were touched by the words. Jock was special. Don Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenceb Posted June 3, 2016 Share Posted June 3, 2016 Jock was with us for an all to short time but he has left us a better, even more caring place. Farewell Jock and thank you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted June 4, 2016 Author Share Posted June 4, 2016 Yesterday was a very moving day, Jock was piped in to the Crematorium by a Lone Piper, his Son and Grandsons wore Tartan Ties not Black to celebrate a great life. The Service was dignified but with No Hymns or Prayers just as Jock had requested. It was an honour and privilege for Peter BB and myself to represent this great Forum. The words written by AndyB and posted above were read and were very well received by all. Here is a Copy of the order of Service. RIP my friend, your loving Family will miss you as do we all. 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gwiwer Posted June 5, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 5, 2016 (edited) As promised I deviated from my planned itinerary and made the trip to Poldark Mine to pay my respects on the 3rd. File data shows this was taken at 11.38 which was as close as I could manage to 12.30. Jock had mentioned in his posts that it was his family which took the moribund Wendron forge and turned it into a somewhat better-known (and briefly flourishing) tourist attraction on the back of the Poldark novels' TV serialisation. If I met him it would have been here. I am quite certain our paths unknowingly crossed as we had the same recollections, mutual acquaintances and discussed matters several times off board. RIP Jock. All Celts together when all's said and done. Edited June 5, 2016 by Gwiwer 19 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Alister_G Posted June 13, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 13, 2016 So sad that I was away from the forum when Jock passed away. He was a true gentleman, who was gracious enough to praise and encourage my humble efforts at modelling, as he did for so many of us. His wit, wisdom and compassion will be sorely missed. Reading Andy B's eulogy just now, and I'm in floods of tears as I type, what wonderful words. My belated condolences to Jock's family. Al. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CathcartCircle Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 I have only recently returned to the forums and even then intermittently and have only just read the very sad news of Jocks passing. He was a lovely man who always had nice things to say in response to some of my posts. I am quite frankly gutted! RIP Jock, you will be missed! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PeterBB Posted March 10, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 10, 2017 Yes, still missed. Coming on for a year since Jock departed and still in the minds of many of us. He was a great inspiration. Peter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ikks Posted March 10, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 10, 2017 Can't really believe it's that long, never knew him but always loved his posts............always said to me more like Jock and the world would be a better place. Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 I never met Jock, but through the ER forum, I really felt like I knew him. His positivity and bravery in the face of such a dreadful illness was / is an example to us all. His daily summary of the events on ER were always welcome and you knew, if you were having a bad time, Jock would be one of the first to offer words of support, advice and encouragement. With Jock you never felt he was passing judgement on you, he was just concerned. The real, and digital, world is a lot poorer without him. A true gentleman. Much missed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium rab Posted January 1, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 1, 2019 We may have had a tough year, but a new year of opportunity has just begun. Happy modelling. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PeterBB Posted January 2, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 2, 2019 Jock's widow Jo, sends wishes to everyone on RMweb for a very happy 2019 Peter 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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