Sad, sad news - Vernon has gone to the great Pie shop in the sky!

[Sara_H]

I'm shedding a tear. He was such a nice, friendly, warm and generous person. I met him 3 times and it was as though we were life long friends. RIP Vernon - you were one of life's good guys.

My heartfelt condolences to Lesley and his family.

He leaves a hole that can never be filled.

I consider you and Vernon to be CC biggest ever Bromance.

 

[Tenacious Sloth]

I will miss the sense of expectation upon noticing his avatar approaching in a thread, knowing that whatever he had posted would make me smile or, more often than not, laugh out loud.

RIP Big Man

 

[bikingdad90]

Sorry to hear about the passing of Vernon. He was a colourful and regular character of cc and will be missed by all.

I think it would be nice if we could sticky the thread for a whole and send a link to his family to read.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Mine would be a vegetarian pie. I don't think Vernon would have approved!

He'd be fine, I got a great vegetarian curry pie recipe from him once.

 

[pplpilot]

FFS! So sad.

I'm not one for posting on these type of threads but I feel he was a truly nice, intelligent, likeable gentleman.

To vernon

 

[biggs682]

well i shall for 1 miss his Pie reviews in the future , my thoughts go out to his family

 

[wheresthetorch]

I'm shocked and saddened. I've not been on this forum for long, but his posts always made me smile.

Rest in Peace, Vernon.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Stunned to read this.

His posts made me laugh a lot - I'll miss him on here.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

[QUOTE 4218446, member: 259"]Vernon's insane experiment s with rockets, bombs, aircraft, pies and other dangerous stuff were always good for a laugh.[/QUOTE]
I'm sure the piecrust lard-exploding stain on the kitchen ceiling will be an ever-lasting reminder for all his family of just how much he took the danger of pies to a whole new level...

 

[Scoosh]

I've been in a strange kind of shock since hearing this tragic news. I never met Vernon but his posts came across as someone who knew what he was talking about, liked a laugh, enjoyed his work and his many hobbies. Pies were far too serious a business to be considered a hobby - they were a large part of what made life worth living - and quite a large part of him too ...

His family will be devastated and we join them in their loss, along with his work colleagues and ... well anyone who knew him.

A very sad day.

 

[simon.r]

Very sad news. I'm another who never met the man but appreciated his posts on here. R.I.P.

 

[Arch]

[QUOTE 4218409, member: 45"]Good to see you Sue.[/QUOTE]

I should make the effort to pop in in happier circumstances.

I suppose the consolation, if there can be any, is that he must have gone quite quickly, while having fun. The greatest loss is for those left behind. If there's an afterlife, he'll be up there, having a whale of a time setting fire to things.

 

[Donger]

A larger than life, colourful character who helped to make this such a fun and interesting forum. His absence will be felt by many. RIP.

 

[StuAff]

I'm feeling inclined to do some pie reviews and get that thread of his going again, or start another if that seemed in poor taste. I pointed Vern in the direction of an award-winning pie maker in Bognor that he might try if he did the matching FNRttC. As far as I know, he never made it, and I haven't sampled their wares either. It seems fitting to put that right in the near future.

 

[sharonzac]

Unlike most of you here, I knew Vernon not as a cyclist, but as a work colleague. We worked together at the same school for eighteen years and only a week ago he was at the pub, enjoying his first pint as a retired teacher (and the pie we gave him as a leaving present). It has been a huge comfort to read everyone's comments here and it shows just how much Vernon touched the lives of everyone he met (and indeed posted with). I have so many memories of the man we knew as the pie bear. Vernon once played the part of the man eating plant in the school's production of 'Little shop of Horrors' and he was amazing. He was Head of Science for a number of years and it soon became clear that letting Vernon loose near explosive chemicals was probably ill advised, but often very amusing. The things he could do with an egg would make the mind boggle! The students loved him and have been remembering him fondly today. Vernon's lessons will stay with them for life.
I will miss the man who started the BBEC pie club and brought me pork pies from across the county. The students will miss his no nonsense approach, his booming laugh and the cakes he baked to bribe them into working. The world has lost a treasure.