My father, Captain Mike Meyer, who has died aged 83, started his working life with the merchant navy at the age of 14, as a “trimmer”, shovelling coal in the engine room of a ship out of Leith. By dint of his own efforts and with no help or guiding direction, he raised himself to become a master mariner, retiring as the Queen’s harbour master at Port Stanley, in the Falkland Islands.
Born in Whitechapel, east London, Mike spent his early life in Barnardo’s care homes. He was educated at the Russell-Cotes Nautical School run by Barnardo’s in Parkstone, Dorset, and from there he joined the merchant navy.
Mike spent a lot of time away from home, sometimes more than a year at a time, but his base was in Wirral, as his ships often docked in Liverpool. After his marriage in 1962 to Patricia O’Neill, he built his life around their home and family in Hoylake, which became the focal point for the extended family and friends over four decades.
Away from the sea, Mike loved to walk the Dee estuary with his children, grandchildren, pets or on his own. Many a Sunday lunch was turned into supper as a short pre-meal stroll was extended into a six-hour outing. Pristine children would return home caked in mud, but with beaming smiles. These strong memories are his abiding gift to his family.
Suppers at our home were notable affairs. Mike had a bottomless fund of tales from his travels that helped to emphasise his points and encourage debate as the wine flowed freely, like the thoughts of all in attendance. The “all” was never limited to those who were there at the start of the meal, as many a chair was pulled up so newcomers could join the fray.
He had been a fife master, playing the flute in the marching band while at Russell-Cotes, and he returned to music on his retirement, taking up the piano and diligently working away at his grades.
Infectiously positive, Mike could be relied upon to offer help and encouragement to those who asked – as well as to those who didn’t. He strove for self-improvement all through his life and did what he could to engender this same trait in others. He was a determined man and, to those who knew him closest, a lovingly contrarian thinker as well.
He is survived by Patty, by his daughter, Micaela, by two sons, John and me, and by three granddaughters, Phillippa, Maddie and Charlotte.
