John Crew (5 May 1933 - 24 Jun 2026)

Celebrating the life of John Crew who sadly passed away on 24 June 2026.
John was born in Barking in 1933 to Florence and John Crew. His elder sister Joan was born in 1931. In 1936, the family moved to Elm Park in Hornchurch. John lived there until he married his first wife Janet in 1961.
John was evacuated to Leeds during World War II and spent the summer holidays helping on a farm in Kettlesing. He often mentioned how aggressive the geese were and how hard he found it to milk a cow!
John went to grammar school and passed all his exams. He was very good at foreign languages and when he completed his National Service with the RAF (1951-1953) he was taught Russian and worked on intercepting and translating messages during the height of the Cold War.
His working life focused mainly on aviation insurance and by the time he retired in 1988, he was an Associate Director at Sedgwick in London.
John lived in Essex throughout his life except from 1965-1969 when he emigrated to Australia and lived in Adelaide. His daughter Nicola was born there in 1967. When he returned to the UK, his son Brenton was born in 1971. Janet sadly died in 1976.
He loved watching and playing sport and excelled himself at football, cricket and table tennis. He was famously competitive and did not believe in the mantra that ‘it’s the taking part that counts!’
He dabbled in wine making, enjoyed visiting places of historical interest and after he retired, he completed a Geology degree with the Open University. He was very proud of the fact that his certificate was presented to him in Ely Cathedral by Baroness Betty Boothroyd, former Speaker of the House of Commons.
John married his second wife Dorothy in 1994. He also had two grandsons, James and Joe and a great-granddaughter. Olivia.
John will be much missed by all his family who loved him dearly. He was a kind and generous man who was liked by everyone who met him.