AKEHURST, Michael
Michael D. Akehurst was born at Harrogate, Yorkshire in 1945 and at the age of four, Michael was adopted by Revd David Kenneth Akehurst (1908-1966) and his wife Grace Akehurst née Smith, who married at Foolow, Derbyshire on 9 November 1937. The family then moved to Hartlepool in County Durham where he spent his teenage years and attended West Hartlepool Grammar School for Boys. From the University of Durham he graduated in Maths and Philosophy. He married at Sunderland, co. Durham in 1967, Patricia Hutton. His first employment was as a schoolteacher in south London where he became much involved in setting-up and running youth clubs. Michael and Tricia had two sons, Richard and Andrew who were both born in London and in the late 1970s the family moved to Suffolk where their daughter Susanna was born. At Bury St Edmund's, Michael started working for the National Association of Youth Clubs and his final job before retiring involved being an Area Advisory Teacher for children with visual impairment. Retirement gave Michael time to pursue his love of art and music and was a member and exhibitor at the Bury Sketchers and at the Felixstowe Art Group. He also exhibited at Bury St Edmund's Church Walks in 2012 from 1 Rembrandt Gardens, Bury St Edmund's, Suffolk when sixty highly regarded professional artists as well as local artists and students donated their work and supported by the School of Art at West Suffolk College, all the proceeds going to St Nicholas Hospice Care. Michael D. Akehurst died at Bury St Edmund's on 5 January 2018.