John Pumfrey — April 7, 1939 to June 27, 2024

JOHN Pumfrey was an architect, artist, musician and sportsman.

This well-known local architect died on June 27.

He was born in Kingston, Surrey, on April 7, 1939 and was educated at King’s College School, Wimbledon, before training as an architect at Kingston School of Art.

He married in 1961 and moved to the Henley area in the same year.

John was truly a renaissance man, always in restless pursuit of something new and challenging.

As an architect, he concentrated on domestic buildings and brought his creative powers to bear even on the smallest project.

It was never clear whether he made clients into friends or his friends into clients, but the results were the same, as so many houses and householders in the Henley area can testify.

He always saw himself as trying to make his clients happier by improving their living space. He designed and built his own house in Gallowstree Common in 1970.

He was also used by other architects to produce perspective drawings and paintings of new projects and was a fellow and president of the Association of Architectural Illustrators.

John was a talented draughtsman, as you would expect from an architect, but he also used watercolour, pen and ink and pastel to capture the spirit of a place in his many paintings. His notebooks are a treasure trove of delights.

In the latter years of his working life and after his retirement, he set out to encourage others in their artistic efforts.

He was a teacher and guide both on the many art holidays he ran with his wife, Joan, and on courses organised by the Henley Guild of Artists and the Reading Arts Guild. His critiques and comments were encouraging rather than simply critical. “But I can’t draw” was a response he would never accept.

John was a gifted musician, not only as a player, but also as an arranger and band leader.

The concerts in his barn and garden were a summer delight, yet his joy in making music was constant, whether there was an audience or not.

His son Jonny suggested he learn to play the baritone saxophone instead, which led to John playing with local bands.

Then in later life, he started a series of his own bands and groups, where he was organiser, player, arranger and all-round driving force. He also ran Gazebo, a saxophone quartet for classical music.

He was a subtle and challenging squash and tennis player, with a gift for delaying the shot until the last possible moment to mystify his opponent.

For many years he was a prominent member of Henley Squash Club in the days when it was in Friday Street. He was a keen team player for Henley and was well-known in the Oxfordshire leagues for his excellent play and his generous appreciation of his opponent’s shots. We often suspected he let his opponents creep up to eight all in order to make a game of it.

He was also a member of Peppard Tennis Club, playing well into his Eighties.

There is hardly room to mention his cycling, especially on the tandem with Joan, his capacity to organise treasure hunts and other entertainments for children, and his constant support for Peppard church, where he was a long-serving churchwarden.

At one time he taught the Sunday school and led family services when there was an interregnum between rectors.

John was the most positive, enthusiastic and generous of men, never heard to swear, criticise or attack others.

He believed in helping other people realise their talents by working with them and learning together.

He made a rich contribution to the life of the Henley area and will be missed by many.

Sadly, his life was taken by multiple systems atrophy, which meant he suffered a progressive decline in later years.

Despite this cruel condition, he remained unfailingly cheerful and a good friend right to the end.

He leaves his wife, Joan, sons James and Jonny and grandchildren Tom, Katie and Nellie.