John Norcross
Obituary

It came as a shock to hear about John's sudden death on March 8th.

John has been part of the bedrock of BSA for many years. Everyone on the scene in the North West seemed to know him. He was instrumental in setting up and running the Manchester self-help group. He got a lot out of it, but also gave in equal measure, for example his sponsored Mount Snowdon climb - twice in one day - with Howard Yaffe.

Speech therapy with Louise Wright had been a transformation. Every year John would give of his time to talk to the speech therapy students about his experiences of living with a stammer. He was an excellent speaker, honest and funny, and he was proud to be able to deliver two flawless father-of-the-bride speeches at his daughters' weddings.

John worked in the design and print business and was closely involved with the production and printing of BSA's leaflets, stationery and Speaking Out

His patience was immense. He laughed readily, a great booming laugh, and when he didn't laugh there was, as former BSA director Peter Cartwright said, a 'chuckle in his voice'.

How can you put a life in 300 words? I shall miss John. As I write this, it's beginning to dawn on me that I won't ever hear him laugh again.

Our thoughts are with John's wife and his two daughters. I hope they find strength in the knowledge that John, who was deeply rooted in his faith, did what he loved doing when he died on Crib Goch in Snowdonia.

Norbert Lieckfeldt, Chief Executive

From the Summer 2007 issue of 'Speaking Out', page 14