The Father of Breakfast Bytes
Ian McLellan, 1928-2022
I will be away all next week in England. As you might guess from the subtitle above, I'm attending my father's funeral. He?passed away?recently at the age of 93. Normally, when I'm away, Breakfast Bytes goes dark, but this time, some of my colleagues will be guest-blogging, so Breakfast Bytes will appear every day (except Friday, which is a Cadence global recharge day).
On the last day before a break, I almost always write an off-topic post, so today, I thought I'd write a brief biography of my father. It's not as off-topic as it sounds since he was an electrical engineer. Yes, the apple did not fall very far from the tree in my case.
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My Dad
My Dad was born in 1928. Since he spent most of his career in the Royal Navy, this turned out to be very good timing for keeping out of harm's way. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
My Dad's mother died when he was 14, which was 1942, so right in the middle of the war. His elder sister was a nurse, and so he ended up taking over doing all the cooking for a couple of years. I forget when I found that out, but it seemed very odd since he never cooked while I was growing up. Not even the sort of cooking I do where I cook and barbecue at weekends, but almost never cook during the week (at least pre-WFH). When my mother was dying in 1999, he immediately went back into?his teenage mode and took over all the cooking, and after my mother's death, he cooked for himself until the last few months?when he became too frail to look after himself.
At 16, he joined the Royal Navy. He went to Dartmouth, the Navy's training school in Plymouth (yes, the same Plymouth that the Mayflower sailed from). That took a year, and so he completed his training when he was 17 in 1945, just as the war ended, so he never saw active service. Getting ahead of myself again, he retired from the Navy in about?1979 when he was just over 50. The Falklands War was in 1982, so he managed to miss that one too. In between, the Navy wasn't really involved in any wars that I can think of.
Heartfelt condolences, Paul.
Marketing Leader, MBA | Digital Marketing | Marketing Analytics | MarTech | Advisor
2 年Wonderful tribute Paul. I’m always learning something from you - in this case, nice to see a life through your eyes. I hope you have a meaningful visit.
Please accept my deepest condolences Paul.
Blogger at EDAgraffiti
2 年Thanks to all of you for your kind comments (and the ones by email etc too). I have made it from San Jose to Cornwall without any problems.
Consultant in IP Business Development and IP Licensing & Portfolio Management
2 年My sincere condolences to you and your family. Losing a father at whatever age is always an emotional moment , even more since you are his oldest child, you are becoming the “Patriarch” of the family … congratulations for your post, what a great tribute !