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David passed away peacefully at the age of 90 with his children by his side. Lancing always had a special place in his heart and he kept a keen interest in it throughout his life.
Born in 1932 in Beckenham, Kent the family evacuated to Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire during the war. He entered the school in January 1946 having just moved locally to Storrington. At Lancing he enjoyed cross country running, the CCF and was House Captain in 1950. He gained his Higher Certificate in History, Latin and French and then National Service followed with a posting to British Army of the Rhine. In 1952 he went up to St Edmund Hall, Oxford to read History. A spell in the City followed before working for the Council for the Preservation of Rural England in the early 1960s. This sparked an interest in planning law which led him to train and qualify as a solicitor. The reorganisation of local government in 1974 saw him transfer his skills again and become the first Chief Executive of Lewes District Council, a post he held for five years before returning to private practice. His retirement interests were wide and varied ranging from the Burgess Hill Town Twinning Association which enabled him to brush up on his French and German, to studying Sussex Historic Churches as well as playing the piano. He also devoted a large amount of time to studying the history of Steyning; he was the archivist at the local museum for eighteen years and amassed a considerable number of files, all stored there on racks of shelving, relating to many aspects of its inhabitants for the last thousand or so years. This includes translations of court rolls, details of eighteenth-century shopkeepers and traders and the idiosyncratic shorthand diaries of the eleventh Duke of Arundel. He was also very keen on his own family history, with voluminous files, and was the prime instigator of the annual family party and will be remembered for being analytical, good company and generous.
Joe Thompson (son)