Recollections from John Leary
Posted: Wed May 20, 2015 8:47 am
Posted on behalf of John Leary
I was saddened to read on the DTELS web site that Gerry had died at the beginning of the month after a long illness. It is always sad to read of the passing of a colleague who you had worked closely with during your career.
I and Gerry for a short period of time made up a two man team that had responsibility for specialist communications. For the life of me I cannot remember now what the section was called but I worked to Mike Phillips as part of the Directorate’s HQ engineering group. I believe from memory that Gerry had been in the section for some time before I joined. He was extremely amiable and easy to work with requiring little input from me to achieve the required results. I remember visiting a small manufacturing company that Gerry had found to produce specialist earpiece mouldings and being impressed with the close and effective working relationship that he had established with the owner of the business. Such relationships were the cornerstone of the Directorate’s effort to not only provide the end user with what they required but also to encourage small businesses.
I believe that Gerry had worked at the Weyhill Maintenance unit at an earlier stage in his career but what he did after I left that section and HQ, I cannot say.
He was an excellent engineer and highly self motivated. He did not seek nor require close supervision preferring a free reign to pursue the task in hand. He had an engaging manner and was an absolute delight to work with. My condolences at his passing go out to his wife and family.
John Leary
18.05.2015
I was saddened to read on the DTELS web site that Gerry had died at the beginning of the month after a long illness. It is always sad to read of the passing of a colleague who you had worked closely with during your career.
I and Gerry for a short period of time made up a two man team that had responsibility for specialist communications. For the life of me I cannot remember now what the section was called but I worked to Mike Phillips as part of the Directorate’s HQ engineering group. I believe from memory that Gerry had been in the section for some time before I joined. He was extremely amiable and easy to work with requiring little input from me to achieve the required results. I remember visiting a small manufacturing company that Gerry had found to produce specialist earpiece mouldings and being impressed with the close and effective working relationship that he had established with the owner of the business. Such relationships were the cornerstone of the Directorate’s effort to not only provide the end user with what they required but also to encourage small businesses.
I believe that Gerry had worked at the Weyhill Maintenance unit at an earlier stage in his career but what he did after I left that section and HQ, I cannot say.
He was an excellent engineer and highly self motivated. He did not seek nor require close supervision preferring a free reign to pursue the task in hand. He had an engaging manner and was an absolute delight to work with. My condolences at his passing go out to his wife and family.
John Leary
18.05.2015