Ron Weir, Derwent Provost, passes away
STATEMENT FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF YORK
It is with great sadness that the University announces the death of Dr Ron Weir, Provost of Derwent College and Senior Lecturer in Economic History. He died suddenly on Saturday 14 March.
Ron Weir joined the University in 1970 and had been Provost of Derwent since 1982.
Ron was an expert in Scottish and Irish Economic History, business history and the history of the whisky industry.
Dr Jane Grenville, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Students said, “This is appalling news and our thoughts are with Ron’s family. Ron was a well-known and longstanding member of the University. Students and staff will be shocked and saddened, as will generations of York students who remember him with great affection. Ron was a towering figure in the University in every sense – we will all miss him very much.”
Professor Peter Simmons, Head of the Department of Economics and Related Studies, “Everyone in the Department is deeply distressed by the news, and we will treasure the memory of his wit and wisdom over the years.”
PVC Jane Grenville, Derwent’s Vice-Provost Dr Rob Aitken, and Langwith Provost Dr John Issitt are the points of contact for students and staff in Derwent College.
The funeral will take place at 12 noon on Friday 27 March at York Crematorium. A reception will follow at 1pm in Derwent Dining Hall, all are welcome to attend. If you would like to attend the reception, please contact Chris Unwin on by 25 March.
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It is with extremely great sadness that I have learnt of the passing of Ron Weir. Ron was a larger than life character and a very popular Provost of Derwent College at the University of York. He was my tutor and supervisor when a student there, as well as a mentor when I was President of the Union. I owe him so much and without him I would not be doing some of the things I am doing today. He will be sorely missed and my thoughts are with his family at this time.
James Alexander
Economic history graduate taught by Ron Weir
He taught me economic history several years ago… he made a horribly boring subject interesting. I actually ran into him about two years after I graduated and he remembered me.
York will not be the same without him.
He had a profound impact upon me, despite the fact that I’m only a fresher. I know he is missed.
What a great and lovely man, he was my tutor and a friend. I am sad to hear of his passing.
Every student at Derwent, past and present, will remember Ron warmly as a good-natured man who generated a community amongst the students, who was concerned for their well-being. His wife’s wish that he did not sing at the Christmas party, and that wives are not to be obeyed, made his annual singing legendary!
Ron Weir was the best supervisor anyone could ever wish for, one of the best teachers I have ever had the pleasure of being taught by and a wonderfull man. Without him, I would never have been able to make it through to my third year and I know many people will miss him immensly. So many people owe him so much
Absolute legend.
I hope that this beats the elections to the front page; he deserves a massive tribute. My prayers are with him and his family.
Ron Weir was appointed Lecturer in Economic History in 1969.
For 40 years as a teacher in the University he put students first.
He was a dedicated and enthusiastic teacher.
When first appointed he lived in Derwent College and has been associated with the College ever since, for much of the period as the College Provost. As Provost he championed the cause of Derwent students, the College and the College system. He was firm but friendly in dealing with student issues and was held in great respect by the thousands of students who have been members of the College. The College was his life for many years, supported by Alison his wife. Students were entertained in his home and many became friends.
Ron was due to retire at the end of this academic year and was beginning to plan that retirement. His sudden, premature death comes as a great shock to those of us who have known him throughout his time at York.
Our thoughts are with Alison, his three sons and the family.
Sad news. He was a very kind, friendly chap who was of great help and support to all students.
I shall never forget the freshers introductions, done in great humor in his house with copious quantities of University red wine and his wife’s endless patience and their warm hospitality.
I remember my times in Derwent (95-99) with great fondness, and am saddened by the news. Thoughts with the family and friends of a great man.
During my time in the UK, I had been living in the college. As a college tutor of Derwent, I had been working with Ron for four years, between 2004 and 2008. I love the college as every member of the college do and we all love Ron and Alison.
In my eyes, Ron is perhaps the last very traditional provost of York. He has made enormous effort to keep the college system which benefits students a lot. Derwent College has been more than a decade a college in real sense when most other colleges of the university serve simply as residential blocks. He is a real defender of the college system. That’s why people would say York will not be the same without him.
Ron means a lot to me. He taught me much more than even my supervisor. The six years I spent at York was the hardest time for me in my life. I can’t imagine how could I overcome this period of time without support from Ron and the college administrated by him.
I will miss you, Ron.
I am very saddened to see this. Ron was absolutely first rate as a Provost, a lecturer and as a role model.
My thoughts are with his family.
Paul
(2004-2007)
I feel very sad. He was a great Provost. Though I’m a foreign student, I was nevertheless involved college planning sessions and invited to quite a number of lunch parties. His style influenced me a lot. I will miss you a lot.
Someone needs to sort out the college website. Not really appropriate at the present time.
The College website has been under reconstruction after the JCRC by-election, where we gained our new Webmaster.
Unfortunately, with this sad and sudden news, our last thoughts were about the the webpage. The lack of information on the ‘under-construction’ page currently visible, and the temporary images used, have been replaced with the latest official statement from the University.
We hope to have the site up and running as soon as possible, to communicate more information about this terrible news and the things which are going to happen to properly respect Ron.
I apologise profusely for the inappropriate condition the website was in for the previous few days. Unfortunately I left a test page up for long than was necessary.
Sad news – only met Ron a few times – the 1st year welcome and once or twice when when we had been a bit naughty.
Agree with Jack Chen in that he helped build a sense of college identity – something my friends from other Universities were quite envious of.
Always spoken of very highly by everyone I knew.
Best Provost of the best college.
Matt (87-90)
I’m really gutted to hear this. I went to his house for dinner twice with other members of Derwent college and enjoyed hearing him talk about his thoughts about University and passing on small snippets of wisdom to the new students, whilst at the same time remembering how things used to be when he was at University. He told me how University had changed massively, where it was often a career step these days for staff and students.
Ron was a massive exception to this from what I could tell – in every instance with me putting student welfare first and really giving a father figure to members of Derwent college. At least from my sadly limited encounters he wasn’t obsessed with the form filling and career progression and time=money mentality and always gave me the impression he just wanted to help students.
I still cannot come to terms with Ron’s passing. I have such an aching heart, Ron was a huge part of my life as I’ve worked alongside him as Derwent College Administrator since September 2001.
Ron was always fair and put the welfare of students above all else. He lived and breathed Derwent College, it was his life, as it had been since he became Provost in 1982 and probably for many years before that.
I always joked that his speeches at Freshers’ Supper in Autumn Week 1 were identical each year, give or take a few words. When you’d heard them as often as I had, you’ll know what I mean! His social events were legendary, the academic year started with Freshers’ Supper, then there was the PG Reception, then weekly supper parties in his house, the strawberry tea for the leaving 3rd years in June. Not to mention the SCR dinners and social events which he always organised with such flair and passion, no-one will forget the Burns Suppers he presided over most years. And it hardly seems like yesterday that we were celebrating Derwent’s 40th Anniversary, though
that was in 2005!
Ron’s dress sense occasionally caused a few smiles. Come the warm summer months, out would come the awful shorts, sandals with socks, and string vests! I’m sure you all remember!!
Ron loved gardening, and would spend many hours on his allotment or in his beautiful garden at Derwent House. On Friday 13th March he did something else he loved, go to the seaside. He and Alison visited Bridlington for the day, and whilst there was able to buy one of his favourite delicacies, proper kippers! Oh yes, Ron loved good food, wine, and especially whisky!
Yesterday we held our College Committee meeting as normal, we knew that’s what Ron would have wanted. The meeting was packed, and when we held a 2 minute silence, there was hardly a dry eye anywhere, I know I couldn’t hold back the tears. I was so proud to see everyone there, all supporting each other at this incredibly sad time.
Ron was devoted to his lovely wife Alison, to whom he had been married for 39 years, though I often thought that Alison was the boss at home! My love goes out to Alison, as well as to Angus, Bruce, Douglas and all the Weir family at this sad time.
Personally, I will miss Ron immensely. He was a wonderful boss, truly
remarkable, a big man in every sense, and I shall always consider him as a friend and mentor, someone I knew I could always turn to and talk, whether it was about a confidential matter or to crack a few jokes and funny stories. Ron was a true gentleman in every sense of the word. Calm seas Ron. xx
I thought all correspondents would appreciate being informed that the Department of Economics has posted an essay-memoir by Dr.Weir on its homepage in tribute. Please visit http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/econ/ scroll down and click on the essay title to view the pdf.
The meals at his home were just a single instance of what made Ron; Ron. I only spoke with him a couple of times, but the fact he’d remembered who I was, and spoke to me on my level, neither looking up or down on me was what made him a remarkable person. As you’ve said Richard, his focus was not on the form filling side of the job, he just wanted to make sure we got the best out of it all that we could, and to that effect he did a truly amazing job.
The amount of people who are saddened by his tragic passing are testimony to the warmth and genuine enthusiasm he had for anyone he encountered.
We’ll miss you Ron, Derwent won’t be the same without you.
Ron was brilliant. I only met him a few times but the fact he invited every single fresher into his own home for supper says something about a truly warm, genuine man. I, along with everyone in Derwent, am deeply saddened by his death and hope there is some great memorial party (or even making Big D…?) in memory of this legendary man. x
Thank you for all your kind comments about my brother.I do not know if the kippers were consumed but our last e mail was about black pudding,another delicacy enjoyed by Ronald.I was doing some clearing up today and came across his book on the Distillers company.
Inside was a letter thanking us for repaying a cheque he sent when things were very bleak for us financially.
It was an example of his kindness and compassion and he will be sorely missed.
I’ll always remember Ron unloading his car during our Freshers’ week and presenting Cheryl and I with a huge home-grown marrow as a bit of a joke after we’d announced that we were rubbish at cooking. This compassionate humour has touched many a student and I know that many, current and alumni, are tremendously saddened to hear of Ron’s passing. It was a big shock to us all. My thoughts are with Alison,&Ron’s family. x
As Ronald`s sister-in-law, I also wish to thank everyone for their warm and moving tributes to a very special man who will be sadly missed by us all. Rankin and I and our two children have spent many happy times at Derwent House with Ron and Alison and their boys, and we will always cherish those precious memories. We are all shocked by this sudden tragedy, but deeply touched by your support, and extremely appreciative of all the kind postings.
What I mainly remember about Ron Weir is that no-one I knew in other colleges seemed to love their provost as much as we did in Derwent. It is too true that he “was Derwent”. My thoughts are with his family and friends.
Ron Weir was the best provost a college could ask for. Whenever I returned to York I hoped to run into him and I was always left smiling when I did. I’m sure that my time at York would have been very different, and certainly less enjoyable, if Ron Weir had not spent his time and effort making Derwent the college that it is today. We all owe him a huge thank you.
Dave Jones (03-07)
Hi Everyone,
thank you for honoring my uncle, he was a very kind and great man. very understanding and supportive, his gardening was brilliant, always fresh ingredients for Auntie Alison’s cooking, i only wish i had the chance to see him again, but sadly i will miss him a lot, even playing Doom on his pc, well i was younger and his son Angus installed it, (or was it bruce), i always enjoyed visiting york seeing my cousins and family, their advice and support was greatly received.
I appreciate all your kind messages about him, and i honor him in my own way, http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/5549/uncleronaldtribute.jpg a small tribute to him, he will be Missed
It’s a real shame that this dropped from the top of the news. I was hoping that it wouldn’t and was glad that the elections didn’t blow it over but now there’s the entire Ball debate it’s getting pushed down again.
Ron was a great man and we should honour him in whatever ways we can. I hope that his family are ok.
Shocking news
Ron Weir’s “Introduction to British Economic History” was my very first lecture as a University student on a typical freezing York October morning in 2000.
I can still remember to this day, his great passion for the subject and his dedication to all his students.
My warmest condolences to his family and friends.
George Katsanos (2000-03)
An early Constitution of Derwent College includes ”…the Provost shall have responsibility for the character, discipline and well-being of the college”. In more modern times, the accurate and precise summary of the contents of several pages covering the investigation and outcome into such a job description could simply be “…responsible for the welfare of the members of Derwent College”.
Either way, and the fullness and minutiae contained within these summary outlines can be debated, there is to me one major element lacking in such text. That crucial factor is mention of time. Ron gave unstintingly of his time – both professional and personal.
Quite how Ron kept these two “p’s” separate and co-joined, nay over-lapped, cannot be fathomed. It was certainly appreciated by those who received his scholarship and company, though is perhaps best understood by his wife Alison.
Ron could always take and record a broad view. As well as following procedures (countless edicts have rained down on the Colleges as a whole during recent decades) he was not averse to applying his own interpretation for the benefit of the College, always acting with fairness and common sense.
As a somewhat aged and personal example, I still believe that it was Ron “interviewing” me during breaks from digging our allotments which led to me receiving the opportunity and undoubted privilege to share in serving Derwent College during part of his mighty reign as Provost. I was appointed Chairman (later becoming an inanimate “Chair”) of the Senior Common Room in 1984 and Vice-Provost of Derwent College in 1986. I relinquished both positions upon my Retirement in May 2003 – which gentle passage, across the interface from the pleasures of an academic life to the comfort of Retirement, Ron organised and participated in with both great kindness and a degree of glee.
To me there is an irony in Ron’s passing on a Saturday when some minds – even to this day, and within the University – will consider the University to be closed. It is always open: Ron was available and called upon throughout the days and nights, weeks and months of every year he was Provost of Derwent College.
There is a cruelty too, in that his dear wife Alison and family will be denied sharing with Ron what would have been over and above anything even he contributed to the welfare of the many thousands of students, College and academic staff, and visitors he met through a whole spectrum of circumstances in Derwent College – namely a most well-earned Retirement.
Thanks Ron – oh, by the way, that partly full bottle you suggested I escort home from the last SCR social event was still acceptable to my unsophisticated palate the next day.
Reuben B Girling.