Name: Ian Davison
Email: LeedsVeg@tiscali.co.uk
Location: Leeds, UK
Message:
Location: Leeds, UK
Message:
I shared a room with Syd at Ein Gev from October
1972 to spring 1973 and he was a brilliant bloke. Most shabbats Syd, Tom MacFee
and I would play Scrabble then Paddy would arrive and we'd listen to the soccer
on BBC radio World Service. I think Syd worked for a while in bananas, then he
moved to working in dates. A year or so ago he told me the story of how, one
day, he'd climbed up the date tree and was just about to lower a branch full of
dates when an Israeli jet flew over, very fast, very low and very loud. If I
remember the story rightly, Syd came down the tree almost as quickly as the
branch and it took him a minute or two (and a few swigs of orange juice) for him
to regain his composure and go back up again. For some reason Syd enjoyed
keeping a record of the names of all the volunteers coming and going since he'd
arrived at Ein Gev, and after 5 or 6 months it was quite a long
list.
After Syd went back to New Zealand he worked (at
the pensions office?) in his home town of Dunedin. Unfortunately, in September
2001 he had a stroke that left him paralysed down one side, and so he had to
finish working. Undaunted, Syd obtained a little mobility scooter that helped
him go to shops and also go on little jaunts along the sea front. Last year
Syd developed a degenerative illness and had to move into a care-home. From
messages coming from his sisters, I understand that he was still able to enjoy
reading and watching sport on television until very recently.
Syd was a thoroughly decent bloke and as we all
remember, a character. Whatever life threw at him in recent years, he never said
"Why me?", he just got on with things and
regarded each problem as a challenge to be faced and dealt with, rather than a
tragedy.
RIP Syd. We won't forget you.
