Tributes paid to former Shropshire physics teacher
Tributes have been paid to a retired teacher, who will be remembered for his humour and fun.
Jack Phillips, a former physics teacher and unofficial second master at Concord College in Acton Burnell, Shrewsbury, has died aged 94.
Mr Phillips who was born in Nelson in Caerphilly, South Wales in 1926, had two degrees: one in physics and one in mechanical engineering. Although he had always wanted to teach his father insisted he become an engineer and it was whilst working for Cadbury’s in Birmingham that Jack completed his teacher training qualification at evening classes.
In 1961, he went to Kenya with Unesco to lecture at a polytechnic, returning to Malvern in Worcestershire in 1963. He later moved to Tunbridge Wells and spent a year teaching in Saudi Arabia until a job opportunity came up at Concord. He spent the remainder of his career at Concord until he retired at the age of 65, moving to Shropshire in 1973 when the college relocated to Acton Burnell.
A statement from the college said: "Generations of Concord students will remember Jack not only being a brilliant teacher of physics but also his passion for sports. He was head of Lie House and was very involved in all the inter-house sports competitions and was the announcer at the annual Sports Day. He had been a sprinter in his youth and retained an interest in athletics during his career."
Married twice and with nine children between them, he and his wife Enid, who had worked as a lab technician at Concord, enjoyed a long and happy retirement in Copthorne.
“He was a great character,” said former vice principal John Leighton. "He will be remembered for his sense of humour and fun as well as for helping many Concord students with their university applications."
