John C. Phillips

1^st November 1918 - 22^nd March 2022

John was born on November 1st, 1918, just ten days before the end of the First World War. His parents, Arthur and Dorothy, were living in Birmingham at that time.

The family moved to Bristol in the early 1920’s. John’s father co-founded the Bristol Pure Milk Company and they introduced sterilized milk to Bristol.

John attended XIV school in Bristol until he was sent to Marlborough College. In 1936 he began reading Natural Sciences at Queen’s College, from where he gained an MA degree. At Cambridge, he enjoyed rowing for his college in the Lent Races. He always looked forward to the Boat Race every year.

During the Second World War John joined the Royal Army Medical Corps and became a Nursing Orderly. He went on to join the Indian Army as a Captain in their Medical Corps. In addition to his nursing skills, his speciality was to ensure that the troops were able to eat nutritional food. He was in India and Burma for five years.

When he returned to England he worked for his father, as the Company Secretary of Bristol Pure Milk Company. In 1957 the dairy was sold to Unigate and John joined them. His speciality was to visit all the farmers who supplied the milk.

John met his future wife, Joyce Marsh, in 1937. Having corresponded to each other for five years during the war, they married at Lytchett Minster church on May 31st, 1945. They had 65 very happy years together until Joyce passed away in 2010. They had two children, two granddaughters and three great-granddaughters. He loved all his family very much, just as they all loved him.

John was always very keen on nature and belonged to many societies including the Bristol Naturalists Society, Avon Wildlife Trust and the local Backwell Environment Trust. His interests also included railways and canals. He joined the Inland Waterways Association in the early 1950’s and spent many holidays on the canals. He was a committee member of the South West Branch of the IWA for many years. Industrial archaeology was another of his passions. He also enjoyed his garden and was still growing vegetables until he was 99!

John passed away, peacefully, on March 22nd aged 103, after a wonderful life.

Jill Dale

28 April 2022