David Albert Burgess (11 Feb 1935 - 25 Jul 2023)

In loving memory of David Albert Burgess who sadly passed away on 25th July 2023

David was born 11th February 1935, the first child of Harold and Rose Burgess.
They lived in Harringay and were joined by sister Janet a year later.
The family moved to New Malden during the war and was completed with the arrival of little brother Richard.
David attended Raynes Park Grammar School and did well enough to go to the University of London to study mathematics. He was awarded a first class degree in 1956 and went onto a PhD course gaining a doctorate in the Theory of Numbers in 1959.
All this study wasn't enough to keep him occupied, he found time to pay court to Joan Whalley, she was a mathematics undergraduate at Royal Holloway College. London offered plenty of options to go on a date, one in particular was to see the musical "Salad Days" which was obviously important as the bought the record of the show and played it often over the years.
As a child David had developed an interest in natural history, as a student he would often visit second hand bookshops in London seeking affordable books to add to his collection.
Once David was sure of his PhD and been offered a position as a lecturer by the University of Bristol he wrote a letter to Joan's father, Jack. In this letter David listed his accomplishments, his likely future in academia and the belief that his income would be high enough to support a wife, David asked if he might have Jack's permission to marry Joan. Permission was granted and they married in August 1959.
In 1961 their first son, Martin, arrived. Thirteen months later Paul was born.
In late 1964 David was offered a position at the University of Nottingham so the family moved up in January 1965.
In 1968 David took a sabbatical year working as a lecturer at Cornell University, New York state. David and Joan often referred to that as the best year of their lives. Once David's teaching duties were finished for the year the family went on a road trip around the USA visiting many of the natural wonders of the country.
David returned to the University of Nottingham after the summer of '69 and was very soon offered the position of Professor.
David led frequent family walks around the fledgling Attenborough Nature Reserve, still a working gravel pit. No holiday was complete without a trip to an RSPB reserve. David and Joan were supporters of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust for 45 years.
The main pastime for David and Joan was Bridge. They joined Keyworth Bridge Club and Nottingham Bridge Club as well playing socially with Angela and Gordon Fullerton and others. David was a member of many successful teams and he represented Nottinghamshire. With the arrival of a home computer David wrote computer programs to score bridge competitions which helped him run many events.
When David retired he decided to take on some duties around the home, mainly shopping and cooking.
To keep his mind active he started to read and study early 19th century books starting with well known authors like the Brontes, heading towards lesser know works. When a character in a book mentioned what they were reading David would jump onto the Amazon website and buy it if still available. His notes and cross references were extensive. David's love of these books led to a love of the films based on them, both old and new, English language and foreign.
David became a very good cook and could often be found in the kitchen following a recipe to the letter while listening to music from his favorite films. Most commonly this would be the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightley, in his view the best adaption of the book ever.
David was very loyal in a way uncommon now, he didn't change banks, energy suppliers or insurers for minor financial advantage. This is illustrated by his membership of TheAA for 60 years, starting back in the days when the lack of a salute from a patrolman was a warning.
For many years David and Joan were members of the Methodist church, including Albert Hall and Parliament Street in Nottingham, later joining Tollerton Methodists.
With failing health and looming dementia David and Joan moved into Belvoir Vale care home in the summer of 2020. Joan died in August 2021 the day before before their 62nd wedding anniversary.
For the last couple of years David's ability to remember the past gradually dimmed as he grew tired, his childhood and school days were the last memories he had. David died 25th July 2023.