A HEAD teacher who spent 23 years at a York school has died, aged 92.

John Harwood Eyre, of Pocklington, joined Lowfield Secondary Modern School, which was later absorbed into the new York High, when it opened in 1961.

The maths teacher remained there until his retirement in 1984 and is credited with transforming its fortunes.

Dorothy Eyre, Mr Eyre’s wife of 62 years, said: “We are very proud of him.

“He did a wonderful job and all the people who used to stop us when we went out would tell us that. He worked very hard at building up the school and turning it into a good school.

“When he bumped into old pupils they would say it was a wonderful school and how well it was run.”

Mr Eyre, a father to Gillian, 61, and Andrew, 53, and a grandfather to four, was born in Denton, Manchester, in 1924.

York Press:

When he was 18 he joined the RAF during the Second World War and his talent for maths saw him selected to work on RADAR equipment.

After a period of training he went on to service the devices inside aeroplanes based at Pocklington Airfield.

He was posted to India at the end of the war, but returned to York in the early 1950s to complete his teacher training at St John’s College, now York St John University.

His talent for the profession saw him reach the top of his class while in York and he took a top position at school in Lancashire after he qualified.

He would return to York and arrived at Lowfield as headmaster in 1961. He remained there for 23 years and even found the time to complete a postgraduate degree at Manchester University.

Mr Eyre lived with Parkinson’s Disease for the last 17 years of his life and passed away peacefully at York Hospital on September 19.

His funeral will be held on Tuesday, October 4 at Poppleton Methodist Church from 1pm.