Derek was born in 1922 in Nottingham and brought up in an era where singing songs around the piano on Sunday evening was a common family occurrence. Encouraged by his mother he learnt to play the piano and joined the church choir, eventually singing at St. Mary’s Church, Nottingham. In the mid 1930’s he was extremely fortunate to be offered an organ scholarship at St. Mary’s, which enabled him to play for pleasure in later life, support his local churches, and have the opportunity to play the organ in Chester Cathedral to celebrate his Diamond Wedding Anniversary with his wife Dorothy. He enjoyed playing the piano in several bands in Nottingham, and later on the Wirral, where he moved in 1957. Here, he sang with the choirs at Barnston and Thurstaston churches and with the St. Peter’s Singers in Heswall. He was always willing to play the piano at local functions and fundraising events, and enjoyed accompanying his friend and grandson on their violins. He dabbled with various instruments including the mandolin, ukulele, guitar, and trumpet; the latter he bought for 7/6 (seven shillings and sixpence - 37.5p in new money) before the war, and sold in 1960 for 25/- to a Liverpool taxi driver. Derek called music his non-professional career and used music for pleasure and relaxation. He had a wide and varied taste in music, appreciating classical, opera, church music, jazz, dixieland and popular music. He became a Chartered Electrical Engineer and was elected a Fellow of the Institution of Electrical Engineers (I.E.E now the I.E.T), serving as chairman of the Mersey and North Wales Centre in 1982. He initially worked as an Electrical Engineer to the Nottinghamshire County Council. In 1957 he was appointed Senior Electrical Engineer to the Liverpool Regional Hospital Board and in 1974 he became Area Works Officer for the Cheshire Area Health Authority - one of the largest in the country. He retired in 1982 and continued to be involved with the I.E.E Benevolent Fund. He was active in Rotary Club and other local organisations until recently. He passed away peacefully on 4 September 2011 He encouraged his children and grandchildren in pursuing their musical interests and was always aware of the power and universal appeal of music for bringing people together and inspiring them. For this reason, his family have decided to support Youth Music in his memory, and feel he would have very much approved of our aims and projects.