Obituary: Geoff Davey – maths teacher and charity supporter

A POPULAR maths teacher who served the community well into his retirement has died at the age of 91.

Geoffrey Davey – known as Geoff – taught maths at what was then Ashley Secondary Modern School after moving to Barton in 1955.

He went on to teach at other local schools in the area including New Milton (Gore) Secondary School, which became the Arnewood.

He was also a lay preacher at St Mary Magdalene Church in the town, and until the week before he was admitted to hospital he was driving the elderly and infirm to medical appointments.

Born in Brixton in 1930, Geoff was the middle son of William and Violet Davey. The family moved to Bishopstoke, near Eastleigh, where Geoff grew up.

A love of maths led to him passing the London higher school exam in physics, pure maths and applied mathematics in 1950.

He went on to further study at Saint Mark’s and Saint John’s which was on the Kings Road, in Chelsea, where he made lifelong friends.

As well as his academic achievements, Geoffrey was also an accomplished athlete and gymnast.

In 1951 he joined the Royal Signals Regiment as a radio engineer after being called up for national service.

During his three years with the force, he travelled to many places including Hong Kong. He would later recount how one of his first jobs was to charge batteries after mixing the acid and filling them.

He kept a journal during his time with the regiment in which he would write about his trips around the countries where he was serving.

After finishing national service in 1953 he joined the Territorial Army where he served another four years.

After moving to Barton, he bought a house for his mother and himself which they shared until she died in 1998.

His hobbies included walking and cycling, which took him to many parts of Britain. In the 1970s he bought a yacht which he loved to sail along the south coast.

He eventually swapped the boat for a caravan which he used to go on many walking holidays around the UK.

Two of his greatest loves were gardening and he produced homemade jam from the fruit he grew. His marmalade, particularly one he created out of satsumas – which he called satsumalade – was a favourite of his friends.

A great community member, he supported numerous charities. For many years he was a driver for NeighbourCare, which helps isolated elderly and infirm people by driving them to medical appointments.

When the organisation told him he had become “too old” to drive for them he was, according to friends, “most indignant”.

He continued to provide the service on a personal basis and was still driving people to appointments the week before he was admitted to hospital in June where he later died.

Described as an “avid reader” of the A&T newspaper, he would regularly submit letters about local issues.

In the eulogy at his funeral it was said: “He never stopped learning and trying new things and was never afraid to query something, or ask for an opinion – of which he had many of his own.

“Geoff was the epitome of a Christian gentleman and will be sadly missed by many.”

His funeral was held at St Mary Magdalene and donations in his memory can go to British Heart Foundation.