“Chasing tomorrow’s horizons with yesterday’s legs”
Gerald Wilkinson, 01.09.1934-17.04.2017
The Hockey Museum is saddened to report the passing of Gerald Wilkinson, an English pioneer of Masters and Grand Masters hockey, aged 82, after a year-long battle with leukaemia and motor neurone disease.
A chartered surveyor, his hockey career spanned seven clubs – Deeside Ramblers, Salisbury, Wimbledon, Guildford, Southgate, Witham and Chelmsford. He had an equally broad association with invitational clubs – Tramps, Travellers, Hop Pickers, Centaurs, Llamas, Angels, Iceni Rex and LX clubs.
He represented England at Over 40s, 60s, 65s, 70s and 75s, the highlight of which was captaining England to a 4-1 victory over The Netherlands in the first Over 60s World Cup final in Utrecht in 1998.
In 1995 he was a founder of the LX club for Over 60s, the forerunner of the England Masters and Grand Masters teams.
He was also a founder member of the Angels touring club, played on their inaugural tour of USA and Bermuda in 1963 and subsequently played in over 50 countries across all five continents.
He played hockey on the day of his wedding to Birgit, a German-born goalkeeper and a fellow Angel, at Chelmsford HC and then went on a seven-week honeymoon on tour with the Angels, taking in Fiji, Australia, New Zealand and USA.
Off the field he held a number of Essex administrative posts and was a Masters committee member for ten years.
His sporting prowess was not confined to hockey. He also had success in athletics as the multiple British Over 60s long jump champion from 2000-2016. On a wider stage, he came fourth in the Over 80s World Championship in Lyon in 2015 and held the British record for the Over 80s (indoors and outdoors) in 2015 with a leap of 3.51m for the event. He was also British Over 60s Triple Jump champion on one occasion.
Our condolences go to Birgit and his sons Ben and Phil.
A funeral service will be held at Chelmsford Crematorium, Writtle Road CM1 1BL at 3.30pm on Tuesday 9 May followed by a celebration of Gerald’s life at Chelmsford HC, Chelmer Park, Beehive Lane, Chelmsford CM2 8RL.
Donations are welcome to Farleigh Hospice and Motor Neurone Disease Association.
Mike Haymonds, April 2017
