My first encounter with John, shortly after our arrival in Kenya in 1971, took place on the 17th green at Muthaiga Golf Club, Nairobi. John, in the following group, chided us for not playing fast enough - and then introduced himself. There followed another 6 years of close and supportive collaboration as colleagues in the large Brooke Bond company, together with a total of 51 years of rewarding and memorable friendship, including both Patricia and myself, liberally punctuated until recent years by highly competitive, if not actually adversarial, rounds on various golf courses. John would come and stay with us frequently, and Patricia would greet us as we staggered through the door after a round, clutching the batteries of our trolleys as if our lives depended on them, 'like two astronauts returning to Cape Canaveral'. I want to emphasise the impact that John made on the Kenyan golfing scene. For many years he was Chairman of the Muthaiga Golf Club. This was the leading club in the country, many of whose members were prominent in local and national political and business situations. As such a certain amount of potential exposure went with the role, but John's calm authority and judgement stood him in good stead at all times. For the expatriate golfers returning to this country, John's position as secretary of the Kenya Golfing Society, and frequent competition organiser, made him an absolute figurehead and contact point for many people over many years despite the inevitable decline in activity and numbers as age took its toll on all concerned. We shall remember him with great affection and a true sense of loss.