Memories

Ken Atkin 1929 - 2001

[From Stumps - Summer 2001]

It is with sadness that that we have to report the death of Ken Atkin who finally lost his long battle against cancer on Saturday 3Oth June. Down-to-earth to the end, it was typical of Ken that everyone knew how long he had to live and all his paperwork was in order months before his death. He had even sent a card to leaders of the Group thanking them for their efforts. The facts and figures in this obituary were largely compiled by Ken as part of his series of notes on the history of the Group on which he spent much time in the last few years of his life.

It seems impossible to imagine Ken not being around and of course everyone's thoughts are with his widow Kathy and his children, grandchildren and other family members.

Ken's Scouting career began at St. Paul's Cubs in Norton Lees. He became a Wolf Cub at St. Augustine's in 1939 and attended St. Augustine's Church from that time onwards. He passed through Scouts and Senior Scouts and then on to the section which he loved the most: Rover Scouts. Ken was involved with Rovers until they were disbanded nationally in 1967, to the disappointment of many.

To say Ken was a stalwart of St. Augustine's is like saying Everest is quite a big hill. Following a successful time as a Wolf Cub, Scout, Senior Scout and Rover Scout which included gaining the King's Scout Award in 1948, Ken held 22 separate Scouting appointments, nine at St. Augustine's, over fifty-three years as an adult in Scouting, including, most recently, Group Contact. He was also a commissioner for over twenty years, at one time being responsible for all of Sheffield's Venture Scouts. His first commissioner appointment was in 1962 at the tender age of 33. In the period 1963- 1967 he was doing six separate Scouting jobs concurrently!

Having lost Rovers, Ken was involved in the start of Venture Scouting in Sheffield by becoming the Assistant District Commissioner (initially with responsibility for Venture Scouts and later General Duties) in the new Rivelin District, a post which he held for the next two decades. Ken was awarded a Thanks Badge back in 1972 for all his work in building the present Scout Headquarters on Botanical Road. He completed three separate Wood Badge courses (leader training) for Scouts, Rovers and Senior Scouts. He was also a Cub Instructor for a while: he used to tell Steph, our Beaver Leader, that Beavers was the only section he wasn't qualified to work with! He was awarded the Medal of Merit in 1963 and the Silver Acorn in 1979.

Ken kept involved with St. Augustine's committees for over forty years through fund raising and committee work. He returned to St. Augustine's to replace David Worth (who became District Commissioner) as Group Scout Leader in 199O and retired from that post in 1994 to become an honorary Scouter (itself a recognition of his contribution to Scouting), and Group Contact for St. Augustine's Scout Group. In 1992, he became the recipient of one of only a handful of Silver Wolf medals ever awarded in Sheffield Scouting. Upon retirement as a warranted leader in 1994, he received a letter of thanks from the then Chief Scout, Garth Morrison.

Ken always seemed to understand people and how to get the best out of them, and managed to stay calm and even-tempered in the most trying of situations. His face would occasionally explode into the widest and most genuine of crinkly smiles, making it difficult not to like this pleasant, considerate man.

His profession meant that Sheffield Scouting had the resources of a first-rate architect to call upon. He was in charge of the construction of the building where we all meet, and nearly twenty years on it remains one of Sheffield's finest Scout headquarters.

Apparently Ken earned the nickname 'cruncher' at work at the Town Hall because, being a non-smoking teetotaller, he developed another vice... munching Nuttall's Mintoes by the tinfull.

Normally an obituary would end there, with perhaps a sad note for people to think about at the end, but Ken packed so much into his life that we must continue...

Historian, Churchwarden, Forces Correspondent, Trustee, Rover instructor, internet user, full time telephone user (!), store of fascinating stories... the list goes on and on. I'm sure that, as people write in with their memories of and tributes to Ken, we'll find yet more aspects of his amazing life.

So, yes, we are sad to have lost our Ken, but surely we need to celebrate the fact that such a person lived, and affected so many of us in a positive way. The best way, surely, to remember him is to keep Sheffield Scouting alive and healthy, especially at St. Augustine's. Already the Ken Atkin Silver Wolf Trophy encourages Cubs to "do their best", and soon a proposed Memorial Fund will help to continue Ken's ideals. At his funeral, the Vicar, Steven Shakespeare mentioned how his job in summing up Ken's life was made harder by the sheer volume of work Ken has done in a voluntary capacity inside and outside Scouting, but easier by the copious notes left by Ken. Many friends and colleagues attended the service and buffet at the Scout Headquarters afterwards. A lot of old acquaintances were renewed.

Ken is no doubt already organising some committee or other up there...

Chris, grateful ex-Venture Scout.

[From "Scout News" Vol 55 No 8]

Ken joined the 59th Sheffield (St. Augustine's) Scout Group as a Wolf Cub in 1937 and remained an active member of the Group for the rest of his life. Although he worked as a leader throughout the Group his main interest was always in the senior sections and he served as a leader with both the Senior Scout Troop and Rover Crew, prior to the implementation of the Advance Party Report in 1967. His ability to lead others to select a decision that he had already decided was legendary as was his rumoured ability to recite POR backwards. Although basically a 59th Group person Ken worked at District level as ADC Senior and Venture Scouts in Rivelin District. Ken was appointed 59th's Group Scout Leader in 1991 and although forced to retire at 65 he continued to act in that role under the guise of an Instructor until his death. As GSL Ken also accepted the responsibility for many years of the Sheffield 10 portion of the Scout Christmas Post Scheme. Ken was awarded the Silver Wolf for his services to the Scout Movement in 1992.

Although his uniformed service with the 59th Group lapsed from 1967 to 1991 he was still totally involved with the Group and especially its headquarters building. Through his professional skill as an architect and surveyor he initiated, over a 20 year period, a large number of probable schemes to give the Group a home and led the detailed investigation into each of them. When finally all the jigsaw pieces of one scheme fell into place he designed the actual building and then led the team in the erection of what is arguably the best Scout headquarters in the City. Ken's leading however was not simply one of design; large parts of the building were actually constructed by him and he and his team were on site for weeks and months and years until the building's opening in 1972.

Ken also made his professional skills available to all members of the Movement in Sheffield and South Yorkshire and he assisted many Groups in their own schemes as well as advising the City and County on their properties. He was a founder member of the Hucklow Committee and led the redesigning of that building from the Old Playhouse into the Scout Centre. He continued to take a positive interest in Hucklow literally until the week he died.

Ken was not simply a Scout person nor a building person. He was a committed member of St. Augustine's Church all his life and served for many years as Warden or Deputy Warden. He served for many years as an active trade unionist at the Town Hall where his diplomatic skills and calm temperament coupled with his wry sense of humour will have tempered many possible hot spots.

His other terests included railways, genealogy and local history. In all activities Ken was supported by Kathy, Robert his son and by his stepson and daughter.

Ken led by example, firmly, fairly and patiently to a high accurate standard but also with his own special brand of humour. He encouraged everyone with quiet, simple words of praise although brevity was not his forte (his phone calls were legendary and it is rumoured that BT shares fell in value on news of his death). These attributes were clearly illustrated by his calm acceptance of the news that he had a terminal illness, by his preparations for his death and the detailed instructions to others of what had to be done, by his attendance at meetings whenever his health allowed until his death and by his thank you notes in his last week resigning from activities and thanking individuals for their support.

Ken was a true Scout who will be missed by all of his many colleagues and friends but most of all by the members, old and new, of the 59th Group to which he devoted his life and with which he will always be associated.

David Worth