[bloke57]

I'm sure it will have filtered through by now that long term member and contributor hattertim passed away on Friday after a short illness. He was 51.

I knew Tim and worked with him for some years until 2011 after which we stayed in touch, shared the odd pint and exchanged Facebook messages.

As his name here suggests, he was a long term supporter of Luton Town football club - nickname "The Hatters" of course - and played for local amateur teams for many years. He was a quietish chap with what seemed at first a serious nature - but, as you got to know him, great affection was bound to follow - as witnessed by his large number of furiously devoted friends.

His studious character made him one of the best administrators you could ever have on your team - his work was of a uniformly high standard and he had an uncanny ability to be able to look at a system and tailor it for its users. So much so that he got promoted away from my department to be given responsibility for IT matters and, while I missed his input, it was good to see him get the progress he deserved.

Tim brought the archivist's eye to many subjects and had a mind-boggling depth of knowledge in the realms of sci-fi, film and many types of popular music. You will see that his birthday was, appropriately, May the fourth...

I hadn't seen Tim for a while and was planning on arranging something when I heard that he had been rushed to hospital with a heart problem and sepsis. He underwent a heart operation last weekend and was being kept sedated. But it appears it was just too much for him and life gave up the fight to keep him - he is heaven's gain. I do not mind admitting that when a former colleague informed me of his death the tears flowed for quite some time - but Tim deserves every tear. One of life's gentlemen and I am so pleased that our paths crossed.