News Compendium

We have been advised of the passing of Phil Kitney (1972-79) in December 2023.  We send our belated condolences to his family and invite any Old Bordenians to submit any memories or stories about Phil which could allow us to publish a more detailed obituary in the near future.

We aim to publish obituaries of those Old Bordenians we have lost, even if sometimes we learn of their passing sometime after the fact.  In a recent drive to update records we were sad to hear of the death in 2021 of Stan Whitnell.  His nephew and fellow OB Allen Whitnell kindly provided this obituary of Stan which we are honoured to publish.

Dennis Fowle (at School 1945-51) contacted the OBA on seeing the obituary for Dick Baker, who he had known at School. Dennis has sent us a further tribute to Dick Baker which we publish below:

It is with great sadness we report the passing of Francis (Dick) Baker CBE in December. His daughter, Karen Page, wrote to the OBA with this obituary of one of our most distinguished OBs both through public service but also in supporting the School.

At the Extraordinary General Meeting of the OBA that took place on 30th November 2023 membership voted in favour of a revision to the OBA Constitution which paves the way for an application to register the Association as a Charity.  

The Association has been pleased to build closer relations with the School Head since his appointment and this includes a number of Old Bordenians being asked to speak at the School's Annual Prize Giving. 

Peter Lusted writes about a tradition that embodies the OBA spirit:

For the past few years a small group of Old Boys have had occasional meetings during the year culminating in a Christmas meal.  

For a formatted printable copy of the Constitution, please click on this link:

/images/OBA-Constitution-Revision-Adopted-30-Nov-2023.pdf

THE CONSTITUTION of the OLD BORDENIAN ASSOCIATION

(Revision Adopted by Member Vote at EGM 30 November 2023)

We are aware of an OB, Peter Jordan, who died in service of the North Rhodesia Police in 1964. North Rhodesia became independent of Britain as Zambia in 1964. OBA Archivist Marc Stewart is researching Peter and would welcome contact with any OBs who were at School with Peter or contact with him after School days. Please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

As we draw near to Remembrance Day we remember the last Old Bordenian known to have fallen in service of his country.  Michael Simpson (who left the School in 1972) served with the Royal Engineers before being commissioned in the Staffordshire Regiment. He was shot whilst on patrol in Northern Ireland by IRA gunmen on 3 October 1974 and died three weeks later, aged twenty-one.