George Frederick Urry

Published on 24/12/2014

GEORGE FREDERICK URRY 14/11/1926 - 18/12/2014 George was born in Abbey Village, Lancashire, the third son of Jane and George Edward Urry. He attended Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Blackburn where he achieved 8 "O Levels", he left to train as a Merchant Navy radio operator, but completed the course as WW2 ended, so went on to study science and maths at Wigan Mining College. George started work as an engineer in the aircraft industry working on missile technologies, (George was one of the first rocket scientists) and he always believed that the problems with his hearing, (he could never hear grasshoppers or crickets, and had to have hearing aids fitted in later life) were caused by having to share office space with a team who were testing jet engines, just the other side of the partition wall at the end of his desk. In 1950 he met Marie Johnson from Sabden who became his wife in 1955. His career then evolved through a move to Ferodo working on Uk defence projects, where he studied for Membership of the Institute of Physics and was one of only five students in the country to be awarded a Distinction on graduation. As George F Urry MlnsTP he then moved to become a Research and Development physicist at Timothy Eaton, who were acquired by WPM, and he ended his employment career at Crown Wall Coverings as Head of Research and Development. Following his retirement from Crown, he continued to work as an expert consultant for a variety of his long term contacts, who valued his ability to combine innovative uses of technology with pragmatic "hands on solutions". The demands for his time were at times in conflict with his desire to achieve a "work life balance"; and he eventually decided that he should completely retire, and focus on leisure and spending time with his family. His friends and family will attest to his many and varied hobbies and interests including reading, fishing, walking, carpentry, jewellery making and design painting using oils and watercolours, mostly of the countryside views that he loved so much. He was also a successful BBC playwright and enjoyed writing and creating written/verbal communication; few who were there will forget his "off the cuff speeches" at family events! After retirement, he enjoyed worldwide travel to India, Thailand, Hong Kong and China, as well as Europe. He became a Fellow of the Institute of Physics following his retirement, and continued to pursue his love of physics and science until his death. He is survived by his beloved wife Marie, his children Lindsey, Nicholas and Alison and seven grandchildren. George was a loving and treasured family man, who was loved and adored by his family. He was a valued, trusted and reliable friend to many, and although George was a quiet, thoughtful man, he had a wonderful, impish, sense of humour and fun. He will be sorely missed. The funeral service will take place on Tuesday 30th December at 1pm at Sabden Baptist Church followed by a service of committal at Burnley Crematorium at 3pm. Donations to be made to the British Heart Foundation c/o Burnley and District Funeral Service, 18 Rosegrove Lane, Burnley BB12 6HX. Tel 01282-411822

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