Obituaries

emembered the little insignificant things about people that made them realise that they were
important to him, and thus he raised their own self-esteem. Everyone who knew him enjoyed
his company.
1993
Giles (Jolly) VAN COLLE (died in 2000)
It is sad to report that Giles was murdered on 22nd November 2000, outside his optometry
practice in Mill Hill, London. The funeral was well attended by old friends from
Haberdashers’, with some even cutting short foreign trips to pay their respects and offer their
condolences.
Giles was well liked at school; his willingness to volunteer and dedication to the cause made
him an asset to anyone organising a house or school event. Similarly, his infectious laughter
and permanent, if slightly inane grin quickly earned him the nickname “Jolly”. This was only
varied during the course of the Gulf War when, as opposed to the rest of the year who
continued with the business of playing football, “multiple buying” in the tuck shop queue and
such like, Jolly spent six weeks with a radio glued to his ear, constantly broadcasting
updates from Kuwait to those around him, and in the process briefly becoming known as
“Kate Adie”.
One of the most important events in Jolly’s school career was the compulsory week’s work
experience after G.C.S.Es. At the age of 15, he had already decided to make optometry his
vocation, but it was the week he spent at a spectacle and lens manufacturer that truly
reinforced this conviction. It was an inspired decision. Optometry was a career to which he
was ideally suited as both a scientist and as the strongly community spirited person he is
remembered as a loving son and brother, and a great, solid friend, Jolly’s absence is a loss
to all who knew him. Jolly was unable to take a gap year before university, so whilst many of
his close friends were abroad he became involved in the lay leadership of his local
synagogue community, serving as the youngest member (by far) of the Synagogue Board of
Management and as the Representative on the Council of United Synagogues. This