Private family funeral for the late Peter Allan Draper
Created by Carol 7 years agoDetails
Peter's funeral took place on Monday 8th August 2016, at Islington Crematorium.
A ceremony to honour the life of Dr Peter Allan Draper
3rd July 1933 – 30th July 2016
TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE
Led by Rupert Morris Humanist celebrant
Entry Music: Nocturne No 2 in E Flat, by Chopin
Welcome, everyone. We’re here today to honour and celebrate the life of Peter Draper, who died 10 days ago at the age of 83 – peacefully in his own bed. He died, as he had lived, with courage, conviction and love.
Peter was a lifelong humanist, indeed one of the prime movers in the establishment in 1967 of the British Humanist Association, which I now represent as an accredited celebrant. My name is Rupert Morris, and although I didn’t know Peter myself, I have spoken at some length to his wife Carol, daughter Jane, her husband Martin and Carol’s daughter Emma. What I have to say will be based largely on what they have told me. To begin with I’ll speak about Peter’s life before handing over to close friends and family members to talk more personally. We shall hear some carefully chosen pieces of music, then we’ll say our final farewells to Peter, in the knowledge that there will be a memorial service for him, probably in the second half of September.
Our ceremony today is for all of you, whatever your beliefs, humanist, religious or whatever. Later on, when we’ve heard from all our contributors, we will observe a moment of silent reflection, a chance for each of you to remember Peter in your own way, and pray if you wish.
For all the sadness you will be feeling today, this is also a precious opportunity to make sense of Peter’s life, to remind yourselves where he came from, the people and events that influenced him, how he developed his remarkable range of interests, the better to appreciate all that he achieved and all that he has left behind.
Peter Allan Draper was born in Blackburn on 3rd July 1933, the second son of Alan and Mary Draper, members of a well-established family in that part of Lancashire. Peter’s father was the textile engineer and manager at a local textile mill, and Peter was very proud of him, both for the way he managed people and the fact that after the war, he travelled to various third-world countries to help manufacturers develop more efficient techniques for weaving cotton.
Peter enjoyed a comfortable middle-class upbringing, and had fond memories of life at home with Florrie, the maid – sticking up for her rights whenever he felt it was necessary. As a schoolboy he excelled both academically and on the sports field. He was captain of rugby, producer of the school play, and in due course, Head Boy at the Wrekin College. He was complimented on his neatness as a gymnast, but was limited by the fact that, as he recorded in his hand-written autobiography, “my legs were too heavy for my arms to manoeuvre”.
He said he didn’t remember ever having to work hard to achieve top grades in chemistry, whereas he struggled to rise from the bottom of the class in history which was, as he put it, “full of uninteresting facts about royalty and battles”. Here, perhaps, were the first signs of the emergence of Peter’s strong political convictions based on dislike of privilege and inequality – convictions that will surely have been reinforced by his childhood memories of World War II. He was 12 years old when the war came to an end and Attlee’s Labour Party won its great landslide victory.
Peter finished his school education with A levels in Chemistry, Physics, Maths and Biology, but before he could go to Cambridge to read medicine, he had to do his National Service. He chose the RAF and over the course of two years, partly spent in the UK and partly in Canada, he learned to fly many different kinds of aircraft from the Tiger Moth biplane (which he likened to a flying motorbike) to Harvard propeller planes and T33 jets.
In his final year at Cambridge, Peter married a fellow-student, but they were both very young, and the marriage didn’t last long after they graduated. From Cambridge, he went to Manchester to complete his medical studies, and by 1961 he was a member of both the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Surgeons.
Professionally, Peter began to develop his expertise in the areas of community medicine and public health. Coming to London, he met Dorothy, who was working as a nursing sister at the London Hospital, and whom he married. In the early sixties, they settled together in Oxted in Surrey to bring up Nick, born in 1965 and Jane, born in 1968. William the dog completed the family. At home, Peter became ever more enthusiastic about self-sufficiency, growing vegetables of all kinds, composting furiously and shouting “gold” whenever he dug up a potato. As he famously explained in the context of humanism, Peter believed that “this is our world, our responsibility, our possibility” – words that still appear on the BHA’s website today.
He was immensely proud of his children. Jane is with us today, but his son Nick cannot be as he and his wife and three sons are on their way to New Zealand to live.
Through the seventies, Peter continued to build his reputation as one of the country’s leading experts on public health, being one of the first to establish a link between unemployment and health problems. He wrote prolifically, including editorials for the Lancet. He devoted much of his spare time to supporting his local Labour Party as well as the humanist movement.
Arguably the pinnacle of his career was the award of a personal research grant to establish a public health unit at Guy’s Hospital which he managed for five years from the late seventies until he decided to take early retirement – which of course was nothing of the sort, as he continued to work with the NHS Consultants’ Association and remained hugely in demand as one of the leading experts in his field. In 1991 he published 'Health Through Public Policy: The Greening of Public Health'.
By the end of the seventies, Peter had fallen in love again, this time with Marcia Saunders. He and Dorothy divorced in 1980. Peter went to live in Greenwich for several years, driving around London in a green beetle, until he and Marcia moved to Muswell Hill.
After Peter and Marcia had gone their separate ways in the 1990s, Peter met Carol, the final love of his life, at a Labour Party meeting in 1999. Her background as a health service manager and fellow-socialist gave them many shared interests and values. They were married before the end of the year, and soon after the millennium, moved to Highgate, where he discovered all sorts of new enthusiasms, not least for tea-dancing with Carol.
There seems to have been almost no limit to Peter’s interests. From his schooldays onwards, his natural energy and exceptional brain gave him a phenomenal capacity for trying and enjoying different things – reading, writing, medicine, opera, ballet, home-brewing beer, gardening, driving, flying planes, tasting wine, cooking, telling jokes, politics, philosophy.
He applied his considerable research and wordsmithing skills to writing an article for the Highgate Society journal about the number and characteristics of the many Highgate village pubs.
He was a loving and proud grandfather to Holly, Emma, Sam, Mattie and Joe; and step-grandfather to Aimee, Eve and Georgie. He was a caring son-in-law to Carol’s mother May, who mourns his loss.
Now let me hand over to Martin…
Family Tribute from Richard Draper, read by Martin Rice
Now we’re going to pause for a moment and listen to a song by Ewan MacColl called the Joy of Living. Carol has chosen this as Peter’s farewell to his family, as it expresses his family love, his values and his gift for joy. This is a moment for you to remember Peter in your own way.
Time for reflection: Ewan MacColl, The Joy of Living
Personal Words by Tom Davidson
Rupert Morris
We’re approaching the end of our ceremony, and I hope you feel, from all that we have heard today, especially from Martin and Tom, that Peter’s was an exceptional life, truly deserving of celebration.
William Wordsworth wrote an epic poem entitled The Excursion, and I’m going to conclude by quoting just six lines from it.
And when the stream
which overflowed the soul was passed away,
A consciousness remained that it had left
Deposited upon the silent shore
of memory; images and precious thoughts
that shall not die, and cannot be destroyed.
In that sense, you have not lost Peter. He is with you now, in your hearts and minds, and no one can take away those “images and precious thoughts” you have of him.
We’re going to leave this chapel to a waltz, by Johann Strauss the younger. When the music has started, would you each like to come up a place a flower on Peter’s coffin – Jane tells me he was always a great lover of flowers and took many photographs of them. When the last flower has been placed, we will close the curtains and commit his body for cremation. Thank you all for coming to honour an exceptional man.
Exit Music: The Artist’s Life, Kunstlerleben Op 316, by Johann Strauss II
Donations
Donations would be appreciated in memory of Peter, to the British Humanist Association.
There is a donation site here on his tribute, or cheques made out to British Humanist Association can be sent to Leverton & Sons, 1 Denmark Terrace, Fortis Green, London N2 9HG.
Please include Peter's name and the funeral date when sending donations by post.
Peter's funeral took place on Monday 8th August 2016, at Islington Crematorium.
A ceremony to honour the life of Dr Peter Allan Draper
3rd July 1933 – 30th July 2016
TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE
Led by Rupert Morris Humanist celebrant
Entry Music: Nocturne No 2 in E Flat, by Chopin
Welcome, everyone. We’re here today to honour and celebrate the life of Peter Draper, who died 10 days ago at the age of 83 – peacefully in his own bed. He died, as he had lived, with courage, conviction and love.
Peter was a lifelong humanist, indeed one of the prime movers in the establishment in 1967 of the British Humanist Association, which I now represent as an accredited celebrant. My name is Rupert Morris, and although I didn’t know Peter myself, I have spoken at some length to his wife Carol, daughter Jane, her husband Martin and Carol’s daughter Emma. What I have to say will be based largely on what they have told me. To begin with I’ll speak about Peter’s life before handing over to close friends and family members to talk more personally. We shall hear some carefully chosen pieces of music, then we’ll say our final farewells to Peter, in the knowledge that there will be a memorial service for him, probably in the second half of September.
Our ceremony today is for all of you, whatever your beliefs, humanist, religious or whatever. Later on, when we’ve heard from all our contributors, we will observe a moment of silent reflection, a chance for each of you to remember Peter in your own way, and pray if you wish.
For all the sadness you will be feeling today, this is also a precious opportunity to make sense of Peter’s life, to remind yourselves where he came from, the people and events that influenced him, how he developed his remarkable range of interests, the better to appreciate all that he achieved and all that he has left behind.
Peter Allan Draper was born in Blackburn on 3rd July 1933, the second son of Alan and Mary Draper, members of a well-established family in that part of Lancashire. Peter’s father was the textile engineer and manager at a local textile mill, and Peter was very proud of him, both for the way he managed people and the fact that after the war, he travelled to various third-world countries to help manufacturers develop more efficient techniques for weaving cotton.
Peter enjoyed a comfortable middle-class upbringing, and had fond memories of life at home with Florrie, the maid – sticking up for her rights whenever he felt it was necessary. As a schoolboy he excelled both academically and on the sports field. He was captain of rugby, producer of the school play, and in due course, Head Boy at the Wrekin College. He was complimented on his neatness as a gymnast, but was limited by the fact that, as he recorded in his hand-written autobiography, “my legs were too heavy for my arms to manoeuvre”.
He said he didn’t remember ever having to work hard to achieve top grades in chemistry, whereas he struggled to rise from the bottom of the class in history which was, as he put it, “full of uninteresting facts about royalty and battles”. Here, perhaps, were the first signs of the emergence of Peter’s strong political convictions based on dislike of privilege and inequality – convictions that will surely have been reinforced by his childhood memories of World War II. He was 12 years old when the war came to an end and Attlee’s Labour Party won its great landslide victory.
Peter finished his school education with A levels in Chemistry, Physics, Maths and Biology, but before he could go to Cambridge to read medicine, he had to do his National Service. He chose the RAF and over the course of two years, partly spent in the UK and partly in Canada, he learned to fly many different kinds of aircraft from the Tiger Moth biplane (which he likened to a flying motorbike) to Harvard propeller planes and T33 jets.
In his final year at Cambridge, Peter married a fellow-student, but they were both very young, and the marriage didn’t last long after they graduated. From Cambridge, he went to Manchester to complete his medical studies, and by 1961 he was a member of both the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Surgeons.
Professionally, Peter began to develop his expertise in the areas of community medicine and public health. Coming to London, he met Dorothy, who was working as a nursing sister at the London Hospital, and whom he married. In the early sixties, they settled together in Oxted in Surrey to bring up Nick, born in 1965 and Jane, born in 1968. William the dog completed the family. At home, Peter became ever more enthusiastic about self-sufficiency, growing vegetables of all kinds, composting furiously and shouting “gold” whenever he dug up a potato. As he famously explained in the context of humanism, Peter believed that “this is our world, our responsibility, our possibility” – words that still appear on the BHA’s website today.
He was immensely proud of his children. Jane is with us today, but his son Nick cannot be as he and his wife and three sons are on their way to New Zealand to live.
Through the seventies, Peter continued to build his reputation as one of the country’s leading experts on public health, being one of the first to establish a link between unemployment and health problems. He wrote prolifically, including editorials for the Lancet. He devoted much of his spare time to supporting his local Labour Party as well as the humanist movement.
Arguably the pinnacle of his career was the award of a personal research grant to establish a public health unit at Guy’s Hospital which he managed for five years from the late seventies until he decided to take early retirement – which of course was nothing of the sort, as he continued to work with the NHS Consultants’ Association and remained hugely in demand as one of the leading experts in his field. In 1991 he published 'Health Through Public Policy: The Greening of Public Health'.
By the end of the seventies, Peter had fallen in love again, this time with Marcia Saunders. He and Dorothy divorced in 1980. Peter went to live in Greenwich for several years, driving around London in a green beetle, until he and Marcia moved to Muswell Hill.
After Peter and Marcia had gone their separate ways in the 1990s, Peter met Carol, the final love of his life, at a Labour Party meeting in 1999. Her background as a health service manager and fellow-socialist gave them many shared interests and values. They were married before the end of the year, and soon after the millennium, moved to Highgate, where he discovered all sorts of new enthusiasms, not least for tea-dancing with Carol.
There seems to have been almost no limit to Peter’s interests. From his schooldays onwards, his natural energy and exceptional brain gave him a phenomenal capacity for trying and enjoying different things – reading, writing, medicine, opera, ballet, home-brewing beer, gardening, driving, flying planes, tasting wine, cooking, telling jokes, politics, philosophy.
He applied his considerable research and wordsmithing skills to writing an article for the Highgate Society journal about the number and characteristics of the many Highgate village pubs.
He was a loving and proud grandfather to Holly, Emma, Sam, Mattie and Joe; and step-grandfather to Aimee, Eve and Georgie. He was a caring son-in-law to Carol’s mother May, who mourns his loss.
Now let me hand over to Martin…
Family Tribute from Richard Draper, read by Martin Rice
Now we’re going to pause for a moment and listen to a song by Ewan MacColl called the Joy of Living. Carol has chosen this as Peter’s farewell to his family, as it expresses his family love, his values and his gift for joy. This is a moment for you to remember Peter in your own way.
Time for reflection: Ewan MacColl, The Joy of Living
Personal Words by Tom Davidson
Rupert Morris
We’re approaching the end of our ceremony, and I hope you feel, from all that we have heard today, especially from Martin and Tom, that Peter’s was an exceptional life, truly deserving of celebration.
William Wordsworth wrote an epic poem entitled The Excursion, and I’m going to conclude by quoting just six lines from it.
And when the stream
which overflowed the soul was passed away,
A consciousness remained that it had left
Deposited upon the silent shore
of memory; images and precious thoughts
that shall not die, and cannot be destroyed.
In that sense, you have not lost Peter. He is with you now, in your hearts and minds, and no one can take away those “images and precious thoughts” you have of him.
We’re going to leave this chapel to a waltz, by Johann Strauss the younger. When the music has started, would you each like to come up a place a flower on Peter’s coffin – Jane tells me he was always a great lover of flowers and took many photographs of them. When the last flower has been placed, we will close the curtains and commit his body for cremation. Thank you all for coming to honour an exceptional man.
Exit Music: The Artist’s Life, Kunstlerleben Op 316, by Johann Strauss II
Donations
Donations would be appreciated in memory of Peter, to the British Humanist Association.
There is a donation site here on his tribute, or cheques made out to British Humanist Association can be sent to Leverton & Sons, 1 Denmark Terrace, Fortis Green, London N2 9HG.
Please include Peter's name and the funeral date when sending donations by post.
Donations
No flowers please, donations to British Humanist Association
£175.00 inc giftaid was raised for British Humanist Association
Pictures
Peter in front of the star magnolia in the garden at home