JON de GROOT

June 1949 ~ November 2002

Jon was born and bred in Manchester, England. He attended Salford Grammar School and subsequently secured employment with a reputed company. 

When the company restructured in the early 1980's Jon and his family moved to Westcliff. It did not take long for Jon to blend into the community and build up a big circle of friends.

No one who met Jon could ever forget him. He had a zest for life and a great sense of humour. He had a joke for every occasion and any party that Jon attended was a great success. The fancy dress New Year's Eve parties were legendary. Two memorable fancy dress outfits of Jon's were a black and white minstrel and dracula. One year, Jon encouraged others to dress in a towel like him and they did the "dance like an Egyptian".

In addition to his humour Jon had a great sense of care for his fellow man. In the dark days when Russia was still in the grip of communism, he and another friend went to Russia and smuggled in matzo and other items for Pesach for Refusnik families to provide help and comfort. Very recently he was planning to run the marathon for cancer charities. Another exploit some years ago was when Jon and another friend spent 24 hours travelling on the train up and down the Fenchurch Street line to raise money for charity. 

Jon was true to his principles. He loved life, was passionate about table tennis and Manchester United and loved quizzes - he helped the Tuesday Nighters win many a tournament. He was known throughout the Southend and District Table-Tennis Leagues, having reached Premier division status and always played an active role in the league tournaments. Then there was his beloved team. What he didn't know about Manchester United just wasn't worth knowing.

Tragically, Jon was diagnosed with Leukaemia in 2000. He fought the disease bravely.  Doctors were amazed at his resilience; never did he lose his joviality, nor his tenacity. So positive, he had a running machine installed in his hospital room during his long hospitalisation. During remission, Jon was a volunteer for the charity Parentline. He made himself available to listen to peoples problems, not once considering that he had any problems of his own.

Sadly, Jon died on 12th November, just three weeks after the swift and brutal reoccurrence of the disease. We are all the richer for knowing him and sadly the poorer for having lost him. Jon will always be in our memories.

Please do your best to help the world find a cure for this dreadful disease. We would love to see you at Jon's Quiz. Even if you can't make it, you can make a donation in his memory (all donations in aid of the leukaemia and lymphoma research fund at St. Barts Hospital and will be receipted). Click on the virtual ticket below for full details.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:    Michael Yaffe, Lawrence Collin, Garry Steel.