John Timberlake died at the beginning of February 2018 after a period of recurring ill health. Eleven club members past and present joined a large congregation at his service in Randalls Park Crematorium on Wednesday 14th February.
John played for the club from 2001 until ill health caused him to cease playing competitively in 2014. A Wimbledon lawn tennis umpire for many years, he was a county player at lawn tennis and also contract bridge, both of which he played with his typical competitive determination. This competitiveness very much showed on the croquet lawn too. Nevertheless, he came to many roll up sessions over the years enjoying both Association and Golf games, passing on his experience to younger players.
Long serving members of the club will remember John for many reasons, and in particular his kindness to people suffering ill health, his attention to detail, and his perfection of a particular croquet stroke – the Timberlake Take-off. A character to the end, he last came to a club event, the annual dinner, in 2017; his presence was really missed at the dinner this year.