An Obituary. Mr Alf Parmley

By way of a tribute and thankyou, IIC&G will be naming an annual education award in his honour.

We would also like to share some of the memories that past and present council members have emailed.

“I have very fond memories of Alf. He was a very kind man and a true gentleman and will be warmly remembered by many of us. I worked with him for many years at M&G. He was a great supporter of Cheltenham & Gloucester Institute and helped me massively for many years with coordinating and invigilating the CII exams until he went to live near to his son a few years ago.”

“When I was Education Secretary (pre 2010) and President (2010) Alf would help us invigilate almost the whole weeks (written) exams session each April and October. He would also post the exam scripts and other documents to the CII at the end of every day and ensure the smooth running of exams for us together with other less experienced invigilators”

“Alf was a great person in every sense and I was greatly saddened to hear he has died (via the M&G Facebook page).

I remember him as a gentleman and a gentle man who was always helpful and never said a bad word about anyone. He was a mentor to me and I will always be grateful for his encouragement and counsel. From reading the many email tributes from other ex-M&G colleagues, it seems my experience of Alf was universal.

He was a classic example of someone who speaks their truth softly and was, indeed, one of the saviours of the Cheltenham Institute by proposing a merger with Gloucester. The continued growth and strength of the merged institute is a lasting tribute to Alf’s vision (along with Geoff and David).

An education award in Alf’s memory would be very fitting.

He would, of course, have wanted no such fuss as he was inordinately modest and self-effacing but we can honour him nonetheless.”

“So nice to read the many comments and I love the idea of an education award in Alf’s honour - I think this would indeed be a very fitting tribute as he was such a wonderful mentor to so many in the industry and he continued to be a very committed invigilator for the CII once he retired from M&G”.

Our thoughts and best wishes are with his family and in particular his son John

Kindest regards

Simon McGill

IIC&G President