The Salopian no. 157 - Winter 2015

78
OLD SALOPIAN NEWS
Dr Philip Heal (R 1946-51)
Philip Heal was born on 21st July 1932 in Exeter, where
both his parents were GPs. He went to Twyford Prep
School in Hampshire aged eight and then on to Shrewsbury.
He was a keen cross-country runner and rower at school
and was House Captain of Cross-Country and Athletics. He
was made a Praepostor and was a member of a number of
societies and committees. After leaving Shrewsbury, he went
on to St John’s College, Cambridge to read Medicine, where
he met and married his wife, Diana.
their families and 11 grandchildren. He was also a much
devoted lover of boxer dogs! He died suddenly at home on
7th April 2015, sitting in his chair after driving home from
Hereford following a happy family Easter weekend.
After house jobs in St Thomas’, Exeter, he did three years
colonial service in Uganda, running an up-country hospital
in Masindi. On return to England in 1962, he joined his
parents’ practice before doing courses in anaesthetics and
obstetrics. He was then a founder member of a large GP
group practice in St Thomas’, Exeter until he retired in 1992.
His hobbies were sailing, walking and painting. He made
expeditions to Everest Base Camp, the Ruwenzories and
Atlas Mountains. He was a very proud father of his sons and
David Howl (S 1950-54)
David Howl’s life is an example of triumph over adversity,
of turning misfortune to advantage. As a result of a road
accident when he was 22, David had his left leg amputated
above the knee. Despite this he became an excellent skier
and eventually a guide for blind skiers. He was one of
the four people at the inaugural meeting of the British Ski
Club for the Disabled on 23rd October 1974 and was at
the Second Olympic Winter Games for Disabled in Oslo
in 1980. He also rode regularly and loved walking and,
when terrain allowed, driving in Snowdonia and over
the Shropshire hills. He was a great promoter of sport
for disabled people, making the most of his abilities and
encouraging others to do the same.
with a determination not to be defeated. He learned to draw
and travelled all over the West Midlands and Shropshire
recording buildings and local scenes of interest. He
wrote prodigious letters and diaries and most pages were
embellished with one of his sketches or cartoons.
He also wrote a history of Parkdale in Wolverhampton,
where he lived most of his life. Parkdale was planned in
the nineteenth century as a recreational area away from the
pollution of the many factories, and it was largely David’s
persistent efforts and research that prevented the large
Victorian houses being demolished and the destruction of
the central gardens and sports area by developers. It is now
a conservation area and may be considered a memorial to
the strength of character that David displayed during his life.
As if one setback was not enough, he became ill with
Hodgkins Lymphoma, but again he faced pain and hardship
Vice-Admiral Sir John Lea (Rt 1937-41)
Vice-Admiral Sir John Stuart Crosbie Lea, who has died at
the age of 91, had a distinguished career in the Royal Navy,
stretching from active service in the Second World War to
retirement in 1980. He was born in 1923, in India, where
his father was an officer in the Indian Army, and where his
education began. After a few months in Australia, a country
which was later to win a place in his heart, his parents
separated, his father returning to India and his mother
taking the children to England and prep school. From
Boxgrove School in Guildford, where he found stability
at a turbulent time, he went to Shrewsbury, where he
initially followed the traditional Salopian Classical syllabus.
When war broke out, however, he was determined to join
the Royal Navy, and therefore switched to Science, Maths
and Mechanics. He won a place at the Naval Engineering
College in Plymouth from where, in only his second year
as a student, he was sent to sea for training. Aboard HMS
Sheffield, he saw action off Italy and subsequently visited
the severely damaged island of Malta. Later in the year,
he was on the cruiser Glasgow in the Bay of Biscay when