OLD DERBEIAN SOCIETY
Obituary
Michael Joseph Garrety (Derby School 1938-45)
Born in 1927, Michael attended Derby School during the war years; he was evacuated to Amber Valley with the school at the same time as his two cousins, after being bombed out of their London house, were evacuated to his then home in Allestree! From 1944-5 Michael was Head Boy under Headmaster Leslie Bradley, for whose knowledge, wisdom and understanding he retained a life-long admiration.
On leaving school Michael joined the Royal Tank Regiment and was commissioned in 1946, serving in Egypt and the Middle East until the British evacuation of Palestine. After demobilisation he remained in the Territorial Army for many years, so this interest spanned the time from 1944, when he became Company Sergeant-Major of the OTC, until 2008, when he was invited to Buckingham Palace for the presentation of new colours to the regiment by the Queen.
After discharge from the army in 1949, Michael took up a scholarship and read for a degree in English Language and Literature at Nottingham University, subsequently gaining a higher degree and other post-graduate qualifications in European and Cultural Studies at Chelsea College (University of London).
From 1952 until 1966 Michael pursued his career teaching English at colleges in Huddersfield and Manchester, also contributing to the development of their drama departments by producing and writing plays for performance. In 1966 he moved south to join Brunel University (then one of only three technologically-based universities) as lecturer in charge of English and European Cultural Studies. He continued there until his retirement. The work he published related often to the writings and poetry of the Great War years, and he contributed to the activities of many literary societies.
However, Michael was a man of many practical as well as academic interests, from archaeology to his love of all things mechanical; above all, perhaps, he was a family man. He met Christine in 1944 and they married at Allestree in 1954. He supported her throughout her own long career in mental health work, from which she retired only recently. A few months before he died in December 2009, Michael and Christine celebrated their fifty-fifth (emerald) wedding anniversary. He leaves two sons, a daughter and three grandchildren, with a fourth expected this summer.
The many tributes received refer to Michael as "gifted in many ways as a scholar, lecturer, writer and actor among others" and as "one who was also a modest man of great intellect and integrity, with a strong sense of duty and of right and wrong, but with a wonderful sense of humour too." "He was a brilliant speaker whose teaching has influenced my whole life" was another typical comment which would have surprised and delighted him.
