We were very saddened recently by the death of a dear friend of our business, Geoff Richards.
Geoff first joined us as a driver, helping another employee, Chris Brown, get to jobs when Chris was unable to drive due to epilepsy. Geoff was retired, lived near our family, and was happy to step in on a part-time basis. I was delighted to have him with us, and it quickly became clear what a good decision that was.
He proved to be reliable, flexible and thoroughly dependable, in that solid way his generation so often was. Geoff had spent much of his working life in steel, travelling across Europe, and although IT had not been his background, he was more than happy to learn enough to help with all sorts of practical jobs.
Even after Chris got his licence back, Geoff stayed with us. He became a valued part of day-to-day life at Dental IT, helping with odd jobs around the office, driving, small installs and collections, and endless tidying, sorting and stripping of computers and components. He did everything in a quiet, diligent and methodical way. We still look fondly on the boxes of neatly bundled cables and carefully labelled containers that reflected the pride he took in organising our stock.
Geoff was also a valued presence among the team. He was always happy to have a chat, but never so much that it became a distraction. He was professional, appropriate and quietly supportive. He was one of those people who always seemed to know where everything was and who could always be relied upon in the background.
Even after being diagnosed with terminal lung disease, Geoff still wanted to keep busy and help where he could. I would still find myself dropping boxes of RAM or cables round to his house for him to sort, which he did in the same careful way he approached everything else.
He also joined us at company events, from Christmas dinners to go-karting, although it is fair to say that one go-karting experience was quite enough for him.
He also taught our own Izzie how to drive on the motorway when, after passing her test, she was too nervous to tackle that on her own.
On a personal note, I considered Geoff a friend of our family as well as our business. I was delighted when he passed on to me his huge collection of golf balls, gathered by him and his wife Ann while walking the dog around Beauchief. He also shared with our family a love of golden retrievers.
Like anyone, Geoff was not entirely without incident. He once managed to hit a cyclist while driving for us, though he always maintained it was the cyclist's fault, and he may well have been right. Thankfully, the cyclist came away with little more than a sore arm and a remarkably robust claim for a new backpack and Apple laptop.
When he passed away, it came as a shock even though we knew it was coming. At some level, I think I had simply assumed he would always be there. It is a cliche, perhaps, but Geoff really had become part of the furniture at Dental IT.
He was a gem of a man, an honour to employ, and he will be sorely missed by us all.
We send our love and deepest sympathies to his family.
May perpetual light shine upon him, and may he rest in peace.