Peter Groves
Peter Groves was born in Watford on September 15, 1941.
He was a lovely man with a very kind heart, who would go out of his way to help others and was never happier than being sent on an urgent shopping trip, so he could fetch something to make someone happy.
He was a highly intelligent man, who was very well-read on a huge variety of subjects, from the Russian Revolution to the number of homicides in Texas caused by guns. He was very opinionated, but also had very catholic tastes. On his bedside table when he died was a copy of the Communist Manifesto. He had got to page 19. Perhaps there is something on page 19 which was the the final straw!
He was very proud of his wife and his children and liked to express that pride loudly, sometimes very loudly.....
He enjoyed eccentricity and for many years proudly wore his deerstalker everywhere he went. We found over 25 hats when we were going through his things.
Peter went to Merchant Taylor's school in Watford and won a scholarship to Oxford to study PPE. He met Uschi just before his 21st birthday in 1962. After leaving Oxford, he became a trainee Chartered Accountant in London and he and Uschi married in 1964.
In 1967, he joined ICI, where he was very happy for many years. They moved him around a fair bit and shortly after David was born in 1970, Peter & Uschi moved to Nunthorpe. Rachel came soon after in 1971. They moved to Belgium in 1975 and then to Letchworth Garden City in 1977.
Peter left ICI in 1982 and worked in senior positions in a variety of firms, including International Paint, Associated British Foods, and the law firm Wilde Sapte.
He was instrumental in helping to abolish Letchworth Parish Council, which he saw as an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy. Like many of us, he hated being made to spend money on things he thought were wasteful. In every other respect though, he was a very generous man; generous with his time to those he could help, generous with his money to those he wanted to spoil and generous with his opinions, whether people wanted them or not.
He will be much missed.
He was a lovely man with a very kind heart, who would go out of his way to help others and was never happier than being sent on an urgent shopping trip, so he could fetch something to make someone happy.
He was a highly intelligent man, who was very well-read on a huge variety of subjects, from the Russian Revolution to the number of homicides in Texas caused by guns. He was very opinionated, but also had very catholic tastes. On his bedside table when he died was a copy of the Communist Manifesto. He had got to page 19. Perhaps there is something on page 19 which was the the final straw!
He was very proud of his wife and his children and liked to express that pride loudly, sometimes very loudly.....
He enjoyed eccentricity and for many years proudly wore his deerstalker everywhere he went. We found over 25 hats when we were going through his things.
Peter went to Merchant Taylor's school in Watford and won a scholarship to Oxford to study PPE. He met Uschi just before his 21st birthday in 1962. After leaving Oxford, he became a trainee Chartered Accountant in London and he and Uschi married in 1964.
In 1967, he joined ICI, where he was very happy for many years. They moved him around a fair bit and shortly after David was born in 1970, Peter & Uschi moved to Nunthorpe. Rachel came soon after in 1971. They moved to Belgium in 1975 and then to Letchworth Garden City in 1977.
Peter left ICI in 1982 and worked in senior positions in a variety of firms, including International Paint, Associated British Foods, and the law firm Wilde Sapte.
He was instrumental in helping to abolish Letchworth Parish Council, which he saw as an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy. Like many of us, he hated being made to spend money on things he thought were wasteful. In every other respect though, he was a very generous man; generous with his time to those he could help, generous with his money to those he wanted to spoil and generous with his opinions, whether people wanted them or not.
He will be much missed.
Recent Donations
9 years ago
Chris Copper
With much love from Monday and Wednesday morning badminton groups
£65.00 (+ £16.25 Gift Aid)
9 years ago
Allison
£20.00
9 years ago
David Croft
Peter was my first boss in ICI when I joined in 1974. When he left in 1982 I still bumped into Peter on the train when we both worked in London and always enjoyed his company. I have seen him in and around Letchworth quite a bit in recent years and was sorry to see him go through so much pain with his hips and knee problem. I shall miss him, his stimulating advice and good humour.
Contribute
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Thoughts
A good and friendly neighbour for twelve years. Always welcoming, always smiling. Great, fun company on a trip to the Proms a few years ago. I have good memories of you, Peter.
Liz
16th June 2015
Wir müssen seit Peters Tod ganz oft an Ihn denken und es kommen viele Erinnerungen in uns hoch. Es war immer so schön und lustig mit Euch. Viele, lange Abende mit einem oder mehreren Gläschen Wein und angeregten Unterhaltungen. Was haben wir Tränen gelacht, wenn Peter – wenn ihm gerade die deutsche Vokabel nicht einfiel – ein eigenes deutsches Wort erfunden hat.
Peter hat ja immer sehr gerne und spannend erzählt. Wir haben ihm gerne zugehört und waren beeindruckt von seinem profunden Allgemeinwissen. Stimmte immer wirklich jedes Detail? Egal – es hörte sich toll an. Wenn Peter meinte, ein Buch könnte die Unterhaltung vertiefen, dann verschwand er kurz – und kam mit einem dicken Buch zurück.
Die gemeinsame Zeit bei Euch in England oder Belgien oder bei Hanne und Günter in Essen waren für uns immer schöne Stunden. Ihr habt immer so viel Schwung in die Bude gebracht und wir hatten viel zu lachen. Es war immer schön zu sehen, wieviel Spaß Hanne und Günter mit Euch zusammen hatten.
Unsere Kinder sind ebenfalls sehr traurig. Beide können sich gut an die Aufenthalte bei Euch erinnern, was dafür spricht, wie wohl sie sich bei Euch gefühlt haben.
Unvergessen die vielen Gute-Nacht-Geschichten, die Peter so herrlich erzählen konnte (zum Beispiel „Jack and the Beanstalk“), die vielen Exkursionen zu Sehenswürdigkeiten, zu denen Peter so viel zu berichten wusste, unsere Hochzeit mit dem Verkleidungstanz, bei dem Peter und Ilkas Vater in Hochform waren, die vielen knusprigen und herrlich duftenden Putenbraten, der Duft von Kirsch-Pfeifen-Tabak, die spannenden Ausflüge in die Natur mit ausgiebigen Picknicks und und und…
Da sind so viele schöne Erinnerungen, die wir mit Peter verbinden. Er fehlt jetzt!
Sarina, Lukas, Ilka und Guido
Guido
15th June 2015
Danke für Deinen Enthusiasmus! Jeder Besuch in London war wieder ein Erlebnis , zu so vielen Bildern in den Galerien wusstest Du eine faszinierende Geschichte lebendig zu erzählen.Und erst recht die Geschichte von den "Wild Beasts", von der wir unten in der Küche das Gebrülle und laute Stampfen hören konnten! Danke für Deine Gastfreundschaft, Elvira.
Elvira
14th June 2015
Candles
In Gedanken bei euch:
Manuel und Anne
Joshua und Dominique
Elena und Thomas mit Anna und Levin
Catherine und Sergio mit Pablo und Maria
Caroline und Claudio mit Noemi und ???
Johanna und Konstantin
Lit by Elena Amtsberg on 17th June 2015
from Sarina, Lukas, Ilka and Guido
Lit on 15th June 2015
