In Memoriam:
David James Pritchard
11th February 1955 - 25th October 1999
Most people who have seen Red Stags dance will remember David, the large bearded dancer with the orange rag-coat. His love of dancing was as infectious as it was obvious. Sadly, David collapsed at work on 4th October and, although he regained consciousness and appeared to be making good progress, he died on 25th October.
In addition to Red Stags, David was a member of Eastleigh Folk Dance Club and Woodfidley. Many people have remembered his fine sense of humour, his patient teaching and his ability to make everyone feel included in the performances. He clearly delighted in the dance and found great fulfilment in dancing with his wife Christina. Although quiet by nature, he left treasured memories wherever he went, from New Hampshire to Yorkshire, whether calling a dance in front of a large crowd or sharing a quiet drink in a micro-brewery.
As well as a being fine dancer, David was extremely gifted academically. Few knew that he had been one place away from being undisputed top maths student at Cambridge. Other people would never have let anyone forget a fact like that: David only let it slip because of an opportunity to make a joke.
His understanding of the fundamentals of matter occasionally flowed over into his social life. One May-day morning, whilst waiting for the dancing to start, David was asked why, if our dancing makes the sun come up, do we do it so early? He was, naturally, unfazed by this, pointing out that dawn dancers were like electrons. Current only flows because of all the electrons, but an individual electron can't decide what the current is going to be, similarly the dancing all over the world made the sun come up but we couldn't unilaterally make it come up later.
His funeral on 5th November was attended by more than 200 of his relatives, friends and University colleagues. Appropriately, one of the hymns was "Lord of the Dance". The voluntary at the end was another Sidney Carter tune, "One more step along the road". Our love and support go to Christina, and to Peggy, David's mother, who have requested that donations might be made in his memory to Macmillan Cancer Relief, a UK charity supporting people with cancer and their families with specialist information, treatment and care.
Their address is Macmillan Cancer Relief,
FREEPOST,
15-19 Britten Street,
London SW3 3BR
An excellent dancer has been cut down - but the dance goes on.
