Obituary John Richard Pool, MBE

John Pool died in Bristol on 18th June 2009 at the age of 81. He was born in Bristol and brought up in Henleaze before going to a prep school in Herefordshire and then on to Blundell’s School in Tiverton. His father was an Estate Agent and the family was always interested in property so it was no surprise that John’s first job was as land agent at Clevedon Court near Bristol (now owned by the National Trust).

In 1957, John joined Estate Agents Lalonde Brothers & Parham where his father was a Partner. He remained with the firm through its expansion and ultimately retired as Deputy Chairman in 1993 at which time it was a substantial property consultancy under the name of Chesterton.

After his retirement he devoted much of his time to a variety of charitable work in and around Bristol. He was a Trustee of St Peter’s Hospice, the Harbourside Foundation and the hands-on science exhibition “@Bristol”. He also helped to raise over £800,000 to endow a chair in orthopaedic surgery at the University of the West of England receiving an honorary degree from the University in 1995. John was a Governor at Redland High School, a Trustee of the SS “Great Britain” Trust and also the Clifton Suspension Bridge Trust. He was a founder member of the Guild of Guardians of Bristol.

He was made an MBE in 1996 in recognition of his charitable work in the city and in 1998 he was given the honour of being appointed High Sheriff of Bristol.

Managing to find plenty of time for leisure activity, John was always a keen tennis and squash player and a swimmer.

John was married to Sadie and they have two children Tom and Kate. He was a well known figure in the life of Bristol and highly respected. A very well attended Memorial Service was held for him in Bristol Cathedral and one of his lifelong friends said of him “John was a man with an immense interest in others. He was cheerful, humorous and volatile - a great character. He was the kind of person who when he came into a room, everyone looked up. He was the life and soul of every party!”

Cedric Clapp