Young, Tanned, Slim Bradders

From Robert Dighero

Thank you Wendy for organising such a beautiful service – Mike would have been proud. The tributes caught Mike’s spirit perfectly – thank you Neal and Francis for sharing such personal memories. I would like to add just a few of my own.

I knew Mike for over 20 years – we were at university together, we shared our first post-student flat in London, he was godfather to Anna, my eldest daughter and over the years became one of my oldest friends.

He was exceptionally generous; he had an endless fascination in and enthusiasm for life. He was one of the smartest people I was fortunate enough to call a friend and he was a perfect godfather to my daughter.

• For those of us who knew him at university, Mike’s enthusiasm for life was already evident. I remember working with him on a manufacturing project, at the end of which he presented our results and eagerly explained to the factory management, who had probably worked there for twenty years, how they were basically doing everything wrong, but he could fix it for them... and of course he could.


• I remember Mike when we shared our first flat after leaving Cambridge. Every evening he would stretch out on a sofa out in front of the TV wearing his old brown dressing gown with a bottle of beer in his hand. Every night without fail he would fall asleep watching late night repeats of Star Trek, still on the sofa in his dressing gown, still holding the bottle of beer


• I remember one occasion a few years later he turned up for dinner brandishing a bottle of Champagne only for it to slip through his fingers and smash on the doorstep. He didn’t say a word, just turned and disappeared into the night. 10 minutes later he was back with a smile and more Champagne.


• And I remember how for our kids, a visit from Mike at Christmas really was Christmas Day all over again. He would arrive with a sack of presents and clearly took huge pleasure in handing out gift after gift and watching the smiles appear on everyone’s face – somehow I always thought Mike must have been Santa Claus in another life

In the last few years, with Wendy at his side, enjoying his work, his cottage in Suffolk and his gardening and in many, many other ways, he appeared to me to be someone who had found his place in life and was very, very content with it - in the end that’s how I will always remember him.

I dug out a couple of old photos of Mike from university which show him as I remember him.

Robert Dighero