This site is a tribute to Len, much loved by us all. This tribute site is a place to gather all our and your memories.

Our Dad was born on April 13th 1936 and grew up in Tottenham, a working class part of North London. His mother died 6 days after his birth and this, unsurprisingly, had a big impact on him throughout his life. His father, who was an avid reader, aspired for his children to develop themselves, through education in particular, beyond what was normally expected of working class children, not for material reasons but for their own personal enrichment. Our Dad seems to have been quite a gifted pupil who already showed a strong appreciation for English Literature at school, the subject he would go on to study at University and later teach. He went to Tottenham Grammar school but, his father was absolutely devasted not to be able to let him pursue his studies at University for financial reasons and our Dad left to start work.
Around about this time, he converted to Catholicism in the face of some strong opposition from some people in his surroundings. The reason he gave for his conversion in conversations with him on this subject was that he had met a number of "good" people in his life until then and they tended to be Catholics. Our Dad's radical striving for what is "good" is reflected in this decision. His radicality is also reflected in his decision to start training as a Jesuit priest shortly after his conversion, reflecting the power of his conversion and his desire to throw himself wholeheartedly, enthusiastically and radically into his new faith. The priesthood was not to be for him though and after 5 years he left the Jesuits. This was a very difficult decision for him to take, but one which he gradually realised was the right one.
Shortly after this he met our Mum in the furniture factory where they now both worked and also started studying for an English degree at the University of London in the evening. A few years later he had 3 children and had graduated in English Literature. He started teaching in an all boys schools in Hackney, a working class part of East London and very quickly his talent for education, combined with his compassion and his sense of what is "good" led him to develop his own approach to education which he practised and developed throughout his life. He had a way of showing a genuine deep interest in his pupils which made each one feel special and he used English Literature not primarily to fill their brains with knowledge but to help them find in themselves something which inspired them and developed their sense of their own value. One of the many stories which illustrate this is one he told about a boy who used to play truant and was more-or-less completely disengaged from school. Using poetry to work with the boy, he persuaded him to read to the whole school at Assembly a poem saying why he played truant down by the river. Our Dad was also a good sportsman, winning prizes and tournaments at football, cricket and boxing. He also just enjoyed the company of the people he was with, livening it up with his strong sense of humour. These two combined in the work he did outside the classroom with his pupils, running sports teams and school trips. This whole period of his life is summed up in the messages left on Facebook following his death by some of his ex-pupils who still remember him 70 or more years after he taught them, such was the impact on their lives. He had stayed in touch with a number of them up to his death and the overwhelming sense is of simple friendship combined with a deep recognition of the sense of their own self worth.which our Dad had helped them to discover.
During this period our Dad was deeply involved in social activities, for example, with the homeless and in the Church in the Diocese of Brentwood, launching and leading prayer groups.  In 1985, through the inspiration of Sr Mary, a French Nun in the Parish, he embarked on an adventure with the Lord through the French Community,’ Fondacio’ which saw the launch of Fondacio UK in 1986.
At the age of 51, in 1987, our Dad decided to take early retirement to devote himself 100% to the church via Fondacio. He had briefly tried to keep working at the same time as he was getting more involved in Fondacio, but despite his determination the strain was too much. He remained involved full-time with Fondacio for many years, initially setting up and leading Fondacio in the UK; then very close to Fondacio's beginnings in Romania. He committed as a permanent in Fondacio and became a formator in IFF Europe (CIRFA) from 1990 to 1995. He left Fondacio and France in 1995 to go and live in Brazil, the country of Rose, whom he had recently married.

He and Rose lived in a number of places in Brazil, finally settling in Curitiba, where Rose's family lived. Our Dad remained active in society and in the Church in different ways up until a few years before his illness. His health deteriorated suddenly following a seizure just after his 83rd birthday when the return of his cancer was diagnosed almost simultaneously. The suffering he went through since then was terrible and made the distance from his family and most of his friends an even heavier burden. Despite this he maintained a rock solid interior peace, fought with determination and kept his wisdom, warm personality and humour right up to the end. » Mark, on behalf of me, Claire and Danny, his children