James Frederick Warriner (27 Feb 1923 - 30 Sep 2014)

In loving memory of the late James Frederick Warriner who sadly passed away on 30th September 2014

James Frederick Warriner – 1923 to 2014

Jim was born in 1923 to a working class family in Newark on Trent the son of Joseph and Minnie Warriner. He attended Magnus Grammar School in Newark. His family circumstances ruled out any progression into further education and on leaving school he started work in the accounts department of the British Sugar Corporation factory in Newark. The Second World War started shortly after this and he joined the Royal Air Force at his earliest opportunity.

After initial training in Canada he was assigned to 143 Squadron of Coastal Command. He served as a navigator, firstly in Bristol Beaufighters and then De Havilland Mosquitos. Like many ex-servicemen of this period he was not much inclined to talk about these times. There was constant danger and he saw too many of his compatriots fall. By the end of the war in Europe he had achieved the rank of Warrant Officer
At the end of hostilities he served with the occupying forces in Berlin. After being demobbed he returned to Newark and his employment with British Sugar. He studied for qualifications in Book Keeping gaining a distinction in his examinations.

Jim was quite a keen sportsman in his younger days and was a regular member of the works tennis team.
It was while working at the Newark sugar factory that he met Marjory and they married in 1950. By this time Jim had transferred to the Bury St Edmunds factory and it was in this Suffolk town that they first set up home together and where their first son David was born in 1951. They subsequently moved to Peterborough, the home of British Sugar’s head office, where their family was completed by the arrival of their second son Neil in 1955.

As Jim’s career developed he was to play a key role in the mechanisation and subsequent computerisation of business records and accounting processes for British Sugar. He was deeply involved in the selection and installation of British Sugar’s first IBM computer. Today we take computers very much for granted but Jim was in at the very beginning as one of a small group of professionals pioneering this new business capability.
Jim was to rise to the position of Data Processing Manager, a demanding role that involved him working long hours, particularly when the sugar beet was being processed through the winter months. Jim was one of the early members of the British Computer Society – a link he was to later share with his daughter-in-law Liz.

In his middle years Jim rekindled his sporting activities by taking up golf – an interest he was to share with Neil and one he subsequently introduced Marjory to. They were members of Burghley Golf Club and later Milton Golf Club.

Hard work and responsibility took its toll and Jim’s career was brought to a close by serious illness in his fifties necessitating his early retirement. With his usual determination he overcame this and subsequent health challenges to enjoy a long and fulfilling retirement.

He was very active through much of his retirement. He and Marjory did sterling service as volunteers in the hospital shop and regularly attended meetings of the Garden Society.

They enjoyed travel to many places in Europe – particularly Austria where they loved walking - and Canada where they fulfilled a long held ambition to cross the Rockies by train.

His grandchildren Matthew and Rachel were a great source of joy to him and Marjory. The children had many happy holiday periods when they stayed with their grandparents and Jim was keen to involve them in his interests – particularly bird watching and the natural world. He took great pride in his grandchildren’s educational and career achievements. His last real trip away from home was to attend Rachel’s wedding to Jimmy in Cork in 2008.

Jim was overjoyed when he became a Great Grandfather and although his time with Rachel’s son Walter was quite short he was able to see him start walking and begin to talk.

Jim’s final years were spent quietly enjoying the home and garden he loved. He spent many days sitting in his conservatory watching the many birds that visited the feeders he and Marjory had set up.

Jim passed away on the 30th September after a short illness finally overcame even his determination and will to fight. He lived a full and rich life and leaves behind the fondest of memories. He will be sadly missed.