My father, Richard Marshall, who has died of cancer aged 87, served for 28 years as a headteacher in the Rossendale Valley, Lancashire.
Son of Richard, a printer and trade unionist, and Maud, young Dick (so-called in the family to distinguish him from his father, old Dick) was born in ungentrified Camden, London. He was one of only two pupils in his year to pass the 11-plus, and attended grammar schools, first in Enfield, then wartime Crewe, before reading history at King’s College London (as a Sambrooke open scholar). He enjoyed theatre trips and as a student saw the golden age of the Old Vic theatre company.
His first post was at King Edward VII grammar school, King’s Lynn, Norfolk. He met Norma Hogg, a secretary, while playing table tennis; they married in 1953, and I was born in 1961. He next worked as a rep with the University of London Press, returning to teaching at Dronfield Henry Fanshawe grammar school, Derbyshire, then at Sir George Monoux grammar school, Walthamstow, east London. The latter teaching post included a term as a schoolmaster student at Oxford, where he was enthralled by the teaching of the historian Richard Cobb.
In 1964, Dick became head of Haslingden grammar school in Lancashire (local press: “New head is Spurs fan”). In 1975, he led the amalgamation of HGS and the local secondary modern into Rossendale Valley’s first comprehensive, Haslingden high school. When the school’s sixth form came under threat, Dick briefed the press, spoke at public meetings, and there were billboards in the town; the sixth form was saved. He retired in 1992.
As well as theatre, he loved sport. In the 1940s, he ran for the Air Training Corps at White City; and later held a Lawn Tennis Association coaching certificate. He played cricket and football for school, college and local leagues, and coached school sides, until the move to Lancashire; there he discovered golf, reaching a single-figure handicap.
Norma’s death from cancer in 2002 coincided with his own diagnosis. He continued to enjoy theatre trips and watching sport. He was a season-ticket holder at Blackburn Rovers, and added one session at the 2012 Olympics to three days at the 1948 Games.
A member of Rawtenstall Rotary Club, he enjoyed giving talks, often without notes, and was a highly competitive member of the quiz team. He had to read the entire Guardian before the following sunrise; and he watched prime minister’s questions without fail. He will be remembered for his enthusiasm and commitment, for his keen intelligence and quick wit.
