Tony Dawes, a key member of many Wellington societies and activities, died last Thursday.
Tony had a very interesting life. His father was the organist at a London church, and Tony was buying classical music on 78rpm records before WWll. He had some accountancy training in his early adult life. During the war he was assigned to be a Bevin Boy in the Durham Coalfield. When finally the work of the Bevin Boys was acknowledged in March 2008 he became an active member of their association, attending their annual reunions. After the war he studied mining engineering.
Tony and Helen, who lived into her nineties, came to Wellington in 1974. They were founder members of the gramophone club, which is still active today. They were also staunch members of St. John’s Church.
On retiring they became members of U3A where Tony took on the role of Treasurer for a time and started the Mah Jong Group and until very recently Tony was running Appreciating Music in an exciting and innovative way.
His programmes ranged from Bach’s Christmas Oratorio to Stravinsky’s Ebony Concerto. Much of the material he used was on DVD and included items such as the ballet of the Prodigal Son to music by Prokofiev.
Tony played the group a lot of choral music, and himself sang in a choir at Milverton. In addition he was the front of house manager for the Brewhouse theatre in the days when that role was voluntary.
Tony’s funeral service will be on August 13th at 12noon at St John’s Parish church, to which all are invited.