The funeral takes place on Monday of a long-standing maths teacher and deputy head at Keswick School who died earlier this month aged 92.
Alan Rothwell will be remembered as a kind and gentle man, with a great sense of humour and fun who was generous with his time, talents and resources.
Born in Farnworth, Lancashire, in 1932, he went to Manchester University and took a degree in mathematics, followed by teacher training. Before his first teaching position in South Shields he did his national service, based in Germany.
In 1958, Alan took up the post of head of mathematics at Keswick School, under the then headmaster John Thompson. At Keswick School, he met and married the games mistress Ann Roe (1960). They have two daughters – Sian and Jean – and five grandchildren – Paul, Mary, Matthew, James and Emma.
Ann and Alan had a long and happy marriage and made a formidable team especially at bowling!
Alan enjoyed his time teaching, taking a personal interest in every student, and was always delighted to meet former pupils, either around Keswick, or popping into the house for a visit.
In 1977, he took a school team with an interest in computing, to take part in the BBC Young Scientists of the year competition. Their project investigated stone circles.
They made it to the final and came second overall. As a result an interested company donated a computer to the school – it took up a whole room!
In 1974, Alan was appointed deputy head. He retired from Keswick School in 1985, and after a brief period working at Keswick Golf Club, returned to teaching at Lime House School, near Carlisle, for a number of years.
He had a wide variety of hobbies and interests throughout his life. He was a member of Keswick Gun Club and entered various competitions and won a national prize at Bisley one year.
Ann and Alan were keen golfers and were members of the Keswick Golf Club in its early days.
They both progressed on to bowling and were members of Keswick Bowling Club, Alan being club secretary for a number of years, and also an umpire.
Alan’s other hobbies and interests were influenced by the beautiful area he lived in, such as fly fishing, sailing on the lake (having built his own boat), bird watching, photography, weather forecasting, and walking in the Lake District.
He was also a licensed radio amateur and enjoyed making contacts around the world. His funeral service will take place at St John’s, Keswick, on Monday at 11am. It will be followed by a gathering for family and friends at the Skiddaw Hotel.
