John Carrie ... Sadly Missed. Funeral details and biography.

Sadly, John Carrie passed away at a hospice in Pembury earlier this week. He will be sadly missed by Pat and his family, as well as his larger ‘family’ here in Kent, and especially by all those at Sevenoaks SC. The arrangements for John’s funeral are as follows:

• Monday 20 October 2014

• 11.30 am

• Tunbridge Wells Crematorium, Benham Mill Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN2 5JJ

• and after at the Camden Arms, 1 High St, Pembury, Kent TN2 4PH

The family's request is that donations in John's name be made to The Hospice in the Weald.

John Carrie KCASA President 2006

As for many people, John’s introduction to serious involvement with swimming started when daughters, Anne and Fiona joined Sevenoaks Swimming Club in 1971, on the family's return from two years in Bahrain.

Since I959 John had helped with the organisation of occasional swimming activities for his employer - particularly for young people - so it was natural for him to get involved, becoming first a Committee member, then Treasurer, and later Chairman of the club (with his wife, Pat, as Club Secretary) until 1989 when both of them were made Life Vice Presidents of Sevenoaks on their retirement from the Committee.

During this period he also qualified as an ASA Timekeeper, Judge and Starter in I976, and in 1990 as an ASA Referee for swimming events working at many National events but on numerous occasions as one of the Announcers. John assisted in the running of many courses for the training of officials and carrying out examinations throughout the County. He officiated at Regional, County, League and Club events. He was Chairman of the Kent Junior League for a number of years and I believe he only vacated the Chair a year ago.

In 1978 he was elected to the Kent County Executive and in 1981, on the retirement of Ernest Keighley who had been County Secretary for 44 years, he was elected in that role - a post he held for 20 years. His position as County Secretary gave him a place on the Southern Counties ASA (SCASA) Executive and in 1994 he became the Assistant Secretary of SCASA (later Deputy Secretary) and was President that year, at the same time as his wife Pat was President of the Kent County ASA.

In I998 he was elected to be a representative of SCASA on the ASA Committee until September 2005 when SCASA split into three regions, and was closely involved with the approval of Club Constitutions, serving on the working party which evolved the most recent version used by all clubs from mid 2007. During this period John undertook the mammoth task of checking all the Club Constitutions in the District - at that time encompassing eight Counties - and, upon Regionalisation, carried on this role for the South East Region. He continued to help Clubs with their Constitutions right up to the time of his death.

In 2004 John was appointed to the post of General Secretary where he remained until the demise of SCASA in October 2005 during Regionalisation.

Despite all these commitments, during the period to October 2004 John and Pat still managed to prepare and distribute forty editions of the three-times-a-year Kent Bulletin, as well as being the Kent Officials Appointments Secretary for several years, and a major contributor to the decision-making leading to the revised structure of Kent County ASA and its split into two (London and Rural). In recognition of his services to the county over 34 years, John was made an Honorary Life member in 2012.

As busy as John was with all these activities, he never forgot his club, and was a regular feature at home galas and Club Championships, refereeing with a smile on his face and always with the intention to run a happy competition. The swimmers were always his first priority - and it showed. And if the loud speaker system was not working it was not a problem - John’s stentorian tones could still reach the most distant corners of any pool or gallery!

Despite being very involved with the Red Cross and the Rotary Club John dedicated most of his time to swimming activities, proving to be very efficient at all the roles he undertook. John’s passing is undoubtedly the end of an era. His conscientious approach (he claimed that until recently he had never failed to attend a meeting), time freely given and commitment to promoting swimming at all levels has been a shining example to us all. It is clearly a sad time to Pat, Anne, Fiona and the rest of the family, but hopefully they will take comfort in the knowledge of the high regard in which John was held - most especially by his extended 'family' at Kent County ASA.

October 2014