TIMOTHY MAWDESLEY O’RORKE

10 July 1929 – 9 February 2021
Aged 91

Timothy Mawdesley O’Rorke MA FCA was born on 10 July 1929 in Nablus, Palestine to Muriel Edith O’Rorke (née Mawdesley) and Brigadier Michael Sylvester O’Rorke CBE CStJ.   

He was first schooled in Jerusalem before joining the Imperial Service College and Haileybury Junior School in Windsor in 1938.  In 1942, the ISC merged with Haileybury and moved from Windsor to Hertford.  Timothy moved with it and in the summer term of 1943 he enrolled into Thomason House at Haileybury College.  On leaving Haileybury in 1947, after completing his two years National Service and officer training with the Royal Artillery, he went up to Queens College, Cambridge where he read Law. 

From university, in 1951, Timothy joined the firm of accountants, George Touche & Co. (later Touche Ross) qualifying as a chartered accountant and FCA in 1955.  In 1956 he moved to Imperial Continental Gas Association PLC, a leading gas company operating in various cities in Continental Europe. He started in their accounts department and rose through the ranks to become Managing Director in 1979.  He was instrumental in overseeing the growth of its subsidiaries Calor Gas in the UK and Contibel in mainland Europe.  A former colleague writes of Timothy that he had a “sharp intellect which was something one aspired to without quite succeeding”.  In 1984 he retired from IC Gas and took on the chairmanship of St Marylebone Housing Association, a charity with which the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was closely connected and where he remained until he finally stopped work in 1990. 

In May 1964 Timothy, met and married Anne (née Kelly) having been introduced through his brother Brian in Kenya where her father was posted.  Marrying at the Oratory in London they moved to Wadhurst in 1965 where they have lived ever since.  Last year they celebrated their 56th anniversary of marriage. 

Timothy worked behind the scenes in the Wadhurst community for over 50 years and particularly in the Catholic community.  He managed and oversaw the finances for the Sacred Heart Church for over 40 years and together with Anne amongst others, kept the Sacred Heart School going, particularly in the late 1970s when it was on its knees lacking children and finances.  Together they have provided invaluable guidance and assistance to the various head teachers over the years.  In recognition of his work Timothy was awarded the Benemerenti (the Pope’s medal) in 1995. 

Well-wishers have highlighted some of his many qualities - loyalty, hard work, good humour, gentleness, kindness, integrity, willingness to go the extra mile and his modesty.  Most of all he was a dutiful and loving son, brother, husband, father of three: Kelly, Nicholas and Patricia and grandfather of Joel, George, Nathan, Alice, Humphrey and Ben.

Nicholas O’Rorke

12 March 2021