Page 70 - Old Ratcliffian 2020 Edition

a member, then judge, with the Diocesan Ted lost his beloved wife, Molly, in 2011. In the 1991 Old Ratcliffian, the College’s
Marriage Tribunal. During this time, he He was very proud of his children – Kevin, Father President Lance Hurdidge (40)
said in his President’s Address: “Before I
Anne, Bernard, and Theresa – and took
was awarded the papal medal Pro Ecclesia
OBITUARIES et Pontifice by Pope John Paul II. Ted great delight in his eleven grandchildren. give my address, I would like to pay tribute
to the dedication shown to Ratcliffe by
He will be much missed.
served as a governor at Ratcliffe College
Chairman of Governors Ted Brennan. He
and, later, he took the title of Chair of
Kevin Brennan
was always ready to spend time on school
Governors; he was very proud to be the
first layperson to assume this role. He also

ex-headmaster was of top quality. Ill health
served for almost 25 years as a magistrate Son matters, and his professional advice as an
in both the adult and juvenile courts. caused his retirement last summer. We are
indeed very grateful to him for all he did.”

JOSEPH JAMES WESTON-WEBB
FEBRUARY 8TH 1983 – MARCH 12TH 2020
OLD RATCLIFFIAN 1997 – 1999

Jody attended Ratcliffe College from only panicking on the five-lane interstates
1997 to 1999. Prior to this, he attended in Atlanta.
Sutton Bonington Primary School and
Harry Carlton Secondary School. Jody had It’s no wonder that Jody took a while to
an unusual childhood. He travelled with us settle in as a weekly boarder at Ratcliffe
during his first two years, and he had been College. However, he did surprisingly well
around the world three times before he was in his exams; as his IT teacher told us, we
one year old. He learnt to walk at 10 months would have to bribe him to work hard and
old on the beach in Australia, chewing on a improve his grades. With the £400 that he
prawn straight off the barbecue! won, he bought himself juggling swords, a
fire-eating kit, a straitjacket, and a unicycle.
As a toddler, Jody attended every one
of the 40 performances of professional Jody left school at 16, and he worked for
pantomimes that we put on at De Montfort the family dance floor business, although
Hall, and he could prompt the actors he was soon sacked for poor timekeeping.
when they forgot their lines. He had his He then worked as an electrician, a fire
own Smurf’s costume, and he would pose alarm installer, a lift technician, and he
for pictures with the audience, as well as was always interested in electronics. With
going out and selling tickets with Daisy the all these skills, he returned to the family
Donkey. Jody came to galas every summer flooring business, and in 2004, he came equipped factory, employing 24 staff, with
weekend, and he travelled through Europe out to Orlando to help set up another family a turnover of £2,000,000.
with us on the original American Hell Drivers business: Fiascos Circus and Magic Dinner
Tour. He loved the bank holiday shows, but Show – fine dining ruined by staff and Despite his unusual upbringing, Ratcliffe
most of his friends at playschool didn’t technology. He helped at the warehouse College grounded him and gave him the
believe his stories about what he’d been and workshop that we set up there, and he formal education and discipline he needed,
doing all weekend! was involved in selling Disney memorabilia and some lifelong friends. He has always
on eBay, as well as portable dance floors. worked hard and, I think, achieved more
When he was 10, Jody came with us He also made money importing old Minis than anyone else could have possibly done.
delivering floors across America, from (MOT failures) from the UK.
California to Orlando, stopping for a Jody kept his illness a secret from all but a
week’s work in Denver to help install Calvin When we came back to England, Jody very few close friends and family members,
Klein’s enormous white wedding dance continued to help us in the flooring and he was determined to beat it, making
floor. He missed a term’s schooling to help business, developing the lit floors and bars, himself work right up until the last week
us build floors and sell them in a factory in which allowed us to show photos, pictures, of his life. In 2019, he bought himself an
Orlando. When Jody was 11, he drove our and messages wirelessly, operated from a Arial Atom racing car, and he used it on
‘John H’ trip boat with up to 70 passengers notebook or phone. When his dad, Grumpy the roads, as well as at Donington Park’s
on the River Soar and the River Trent. At 14, Joe Weston-Webb, died in 2012, Jody racetrack. In February 2020, shortly before
he bought his first trip boat and named it took over running the family business and his death, he fulfilled his dream of taking
‘The Soar Bottom Lady’. He was too young moved it to Riseholme Farm, where he lived Jason, his son, to Orlando for a holiday.
to apply for a boatmasters’ licence, so he with his partner, Vanessa, her daughters,
had to keep to only 12 passengers per trip. Alex and Issy, and his son, Jason, who Mary Weston-Webb and Katy Kerr
When he was 15, he shared the driving of is now 10 years old. Jody renovated the (née Weston-Webb) (02)
a 7.5 tonne truck from Orlando to Canada, house and turned the farmyard into a fully Mother and Sister

70 The Old Ratcliffian 2020