Tom Lawrence

1925 - 2014

Tom was brought up in Southampton in the 1930s and had just started work when the 2nd World War broke out. Despite the opposition of his parents Tom wanted to go to sea  and volunteered for the RNVR. He joined the Royal Navy at the tender age of 17 and for much of the war he  served on the small escort corvette, HMS Allington Castle, as a specialist  in tracking U boats. The most momentous of their duties was to take part in the harrowing Arctic Convoys to Murmansk. This experience left its mark on Tom, particularly in his later years, and it was only relatively recently that he was presented with the Arctic Star medal for valour. Later in the war he served in the Mediterranean and the Far East before returning to Southampton to start a career in the Building Supply  industry where he rose to a senior managerial position.

His marriage in the early 1950s lasted 30 years. After the death of his first wife Tom was introduced to Sophie Rex through his GP, Nikki Crawford. Sophie at that time was a top senior orienteering competitor with several internationals to her credit, so after their wedding in October 1982 Tom was soon learning about the sport from his new wife,and the rest so to speak is history.

A larger than life character, Tom has only been an occasional orienteer but his idiosyncratic  presence at events has been legendary. He was initially taken aback by orienteers changing in public and our early trench loos filled him with horror! However his contribution to club spirit particularly at big multi-day events was incalculable. Tom, Sophie and their dog Tess regularly went to JKs and Scottish 6 day events with Tom always keen to organise a club meal at a suitable hotel, having previously sampled their stock of Whisky. He was in his element if the event was in the NE of Scotland where he could tour the home of malt whisky and he always maintained that on one excursion it was Tess who drove him back in the evening!

For many years Tom acted as Father Christmas at the Boxing Day Canter and enjoyed giving out sweets to juniors. However,when one very senior competitor once demanded not a bag of sweets but a dram from Tom's flask, there followed a rather fraught altercation much to the amusement of other nearby runners!

Always part of club get togethers and club dinners Tom came to be regarded as the 'Grandfather' of the club, a title that he revelled in.

Tom has been challenged by health problems for many years, indeed on their marriage he was not expected to live for more than 5 years. This turned out to be a major  miscalculation and  Tom and Sophie have since enjoyed 32 years of happy marriage.

Tom was one of life's characters and the world is a poorer place without his wit and his ever present dram. Our thoughts are with Sophie and Tom's family at this sad time.