Six weeks ago Derek had a seven hour operation in Cape Town to remove a stomach cancer.Although the operation was a success,he remained in a critical state and sadly he died two days ago.
Derek joined the club in the mid 1960s when he was an articled clerk at Cook,Sutton & Co in St Mary's Butts ( now part of James Cowper Kreston our auditors ).He moved to Johannesburg where his fiancée Joan lived,and eventually became KPMG's IT partner for Africa.Derek always followed and supported Redingensians avidly,remaining friends not just with myself but with Rodney Huggins, Chris Ball and Woofy Allen.With Joan he was a regular at Twickenham for the Springbok games and we went together to many England and Lions games both rugby and cricket,as well as a memorable Springboks v All Blacks international in Soweto.