Sadly I have to report the passing of one of our members, John Murrell, on 25 June 2022, after a short illness. John lived in Surrey but he was our first real “International Member”, as he liked to call himself, joining us during lockdown in April 2020 and has been online with us at just about every meeting since.
John was a very valued member of our Society and made a deep and long-lasting impression. He often contributed to the discussions at both our main and IOG meetings, giving us several presentations too. He always had something intelligent and worthwhile to contribute and was clearly very knowledgeable about all things astronomy-related. His assistance in researching our Tulley and Banks instruments was invaluable in the insights he offered.
John was planning to give us the Sky in July talk but never managed to complete it. I chatted to John via email a few times shortly before he passed.
Even though we only knew John for a short period of time, he journeyed with us through Covid lockdown and he will be sadly missed.
Mark Phillips
President