In Memoriam - Bob Waller
It is with great sadness that King John's Morris Men report the very sudden and unexpected death of their colleague and close friend, Bob Waller, aged 53, on Saturday, June 4th, 2005 in Saffron Walden, Essex.
The team was taking part in the annual Morris Ring meeting hosted by Thaxted Morris Men. They had just completed a display dance for the general public when Bob suffered a massive heart attack. Doctor, paramedic and ambulance staff strove to revive him without success. He is not thought to have suffered for very long.
Originally from Nottingham, he came to Hampshire after some time in Devon where he met his wife Jane. He was employed as a Product Development Manager at IBM in Hursley.
Bob was a stalwart member of King John's Morris Men for more than 18 years, during which time he danced in Belgium, France and Germany as well as at home. He was Squire of the team from 1996 to 1998 and latterly ran the team's website (http://www.king-johns-morris.org.uk/). He was a regular member of the King John's Morris Mummers plays, spending the evenings in the run-up to Christmas entertaining the general public in the ale houses around Southampton and aiding in the collection of hundreds of pounds for various local charities.
He was a kind and jovial man whose insightful wit would appear at just the right moment to the delight of all. He was a respected figure in the team and was known and liked the length of the country.
The team's past Squire, John Miller says of Bob "He was a big man, what you might call a gentle giant. He was, however, very articulate and intelligent. I personally, will always have an image in my mind of Bob playing a very mean Turkish Knight in our Christmas Mummers play! We will all miss him. Our thoughts go out to his wife Jane, who will always be part of the KJMM "Family".
John summarises the feelings of every member of King John's Morris Men. Henceforth, there will forever be a void in our lives where Bob Waller dwelt. Our lives are the poorer for his passing.
Wassail,
Martin Kennard on behalf of Jane Waller and King John's Morris Men