Monday 17 June 2013


Father's Day

My Dad, Jack Turner Born 1936 
 
He was the first person in our family history to get a decent education, thanks to his working class parents who struggled in impossible times to get him there.
He volunteered for the RAF as a firefighter, during the years when National Service was compulsory. He served 25 years in the W. Yorkshire Fire Service and saved many lives, nearly copping it himself a couple of times. 
It's thanks to him I became a scientist and a geek. He bought me a chemistry set when I was five and taught me about how chemicals can interact to make fire and fire-hazards. To me, at that age, means fireworks. He let me have a lab in our attic and bought me more chemistry sets, a microscope, electronics kits and other cool science stuff.
 Thanks Dad for being a great Dad, a hero, and an inspiration.
 Craig Turner [gampa geek]
 



1 comment:

  1. Nice tribute to your Paw! I got a chemistry set also - a Gilbert Chemistry set. It was a tin box with all this stuff in it. My older brother was taking chemistry in college and got me some element (I forget which now) when you dropped the stuff in water (it was a roll of a metal) it would fiz and give off hydrogen which could be captured in a test tube held over the fizzing one... then take that tube and hold to a flame - there was a refreshing "Pop!" as the hydrogen ignited.

    I went to York in the 80's. Enjoyed looking at the castle stuff... the keep where the Jews were burned, the underbelly of the cathedral where the Roman's had left their kit - eating a meat pie at a bakery that was rather greasy... seeing the museum of the Yorkshire regiment that came to fight in the colonies and feeling odd.

    ReplyDelete