JOHN ROLLINGS OBITUARY
Any reader of 'Omnibus' in the last few years cannot have missed noticing the name John Rollings associated with many reports and projects so it is with deep sadness that I have to report that John died in a road accident on his way back home from the Museum on Tuesday 20 January.
John had been a member for twenty years but it was in 2004 that most of us got to know him when he was able to spend more time at the Museum following his retirement as Sub-Postmaster at the Kingsbury Post Office.
One of the first projects that he got to grips with was the engineering drawing archive, over 20,000 large scale engineering drawings, the oldest dating back to 1914 and many relating to parts required for restoration of vehicles in our collection. None of the drawings had been catalogued so John made a start. He applied for a grant and we were able to purchase a large scale scanner. This was installed at my office in Lichfield and he visited us on a weekly basis. At the last count, over 15,000 drawings had been scanned by John and indexed, with the help of Andrew Turner and Nigel Hall.
John was also active on the 'sales front', new fittings arrived for the Museum Shop from a former contact, and carpets were donated by the NEC. When we were expanding the Museum after the lottery grant, John assisted in locating a company who could dispose of our old railway carriages and sourced a Portacabin as a replacement staff rest room.
He made the contacts to enable us to obtain replica street names in the Birmingham City Council style, he made a sound effects CD for our bus cab mock-up and recently he took on the mantle of organising educational resources and group visits at the Museum. This was another task he launched into, obtaining a grant for a teacher placement and the purchase of a large format laser printer.
His tragic death deeply affected everybody at the Museum and this was borne out by the large turnout of members for his funeral on Friday 30 January. Conscious of the significant part the Museum had played in his life, his family requested that the S16 take part in the funeral cortège and this was driven by Kevin Hill. James Munro took the D9 loaded with members direct to the crematorium for the Humanist ceremony. During the proceedings, I gave a tribute to John on behalf of the Museum.
John was 66 and he leaves a wife Pauline, two daughters Karen and Michelle and grandchildren Katy and Tom. Our thoughts and sympathies go out to them.
Dave Taylor
It was clear from the huge number of people present at the funeral and the other tributes to him, that John applied the same energy and enthusiasm to everything he did.*
We remembered that John never showed anything less than good humour. If we weren't keen on one of his ideas, he would either patiently explain it to us again or accept with good grace that it wasn't
one of his better ideas - like the best bus services, another one would be along in a minute. We'll miss him tremendously, but hopefully we'll also draw inspiration from his achievements.
Malcolm Keeley
* Among other things, John had also been a Parish Councillor, and was on the local committee of the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters. Ed
Such has been John's contribution to the Museum in recent years that this is probably the bleakest event in our organisation's history. Nevertheless, the Trustees and Committee are absolutely determined to continue with all the projects that John had worked on, and they hope that other members now might come forward to support that challenge.
For instance, the training session for Museum Guides went ahead on Tuesday 27 January as John had planned. Now we must continue to promote educational visits to local schools. And then there is the task of scanning the engineering drawing collection; BMMO items are about three-quarters done, but most of the MCW material remains to be started.
Advancing these projects would be a real memorial to John.
Andrew Gardner
Chapel Lane, Wythall, Worcs B47 6JX
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