Tributes have been paid to one of Suffolk's agricultural giants who taught his children to believe that with hard work, anything is possible.
Gordon Angell was born on July 29, 1927, in Chatteris in Cambridgeshire, the second son born to Harold and Ellen Angell.
“Not only was Ellen's second-born another boy, he was a feisty one with a mind of his own from the start,” explained Gordon’s daughter, Emma-Kate Thompson.
Gordon left school at just 13, rejecting a formal education for the outside world.
He instead worked on various farms until he was called up to the RAF in 1945, aged 18.
Life after the war was tough for Gordon, facing a harsh winter and post-war unemployment with a young family to support.
Gordon had become a father by this time, with his eldest son Roger born in 1948.
However, Gordon was not deterred, and joined forces with his brother, Neville, to install generators bringing electricity to the Fens, whilst also working part-time selling farm machinery.
In 1959, he joined the company Cyanamid, and was appointed as a manager two years later.
Gordon rapidly built up the business and was responsible for introducing granular insecticides into the UK.
He established a respected name for himself in the industry, becoming vice-chairman of the Association of British AgroChemical Manufacturers, and a member of several agricultural councils and committees.
Gordon’s ethos, skills and drive got him noticed, and he was head-hunted by the German company BASF in 1969.
He made the move to Ipswich, where he was appointed manager of the company’s Agricultural Division. In 1971, he became director of the division, aged just 43.
The Ipswich office was later moved to Lady Lane in Hadleigh, where Gordon remained with BASF until his retirement in 1992.
By then, he was a director responsible for an agricultural division worth £60m.
He was on the governing board for Bristol University, a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Society and was awarded the Freedom of the City of London in 1998 and put forward for an OBE for services to the Agricultural sector.
Gordon also welcomed two more children in Suffolk, with Emma-Kate born in 1973 and Ben born in 1975.
Emma-Kate said that her father’s hard work and tenacity had a profound impact on all three of his children.
“His life was a testament to hard work, dedication, a can-do attitude, resilience, and perseverance,” she said.
“This sheer bloody-mindedness was at times truly exasperating, but Gordon passed on to all his children the certainty that if you want something badly enough, work hard enough for it and are willing to adapt; pretty much anything is possible.”
Gordon was also determined to help those less fortunate, and was involved in various BASF charity events.
He had his own idea for a gala night to raise funds for Save the Children, and in 1991, ‘An Evening with Mike Batt and his Guests’ took place at the Barbican Centre, raising over £50,000.
Encouraged, Gordon proposed to the headmaster of Ipswich School Dr John Blatchly that the school could benefit from an annual concert at Snape Maltings, with BASF sponsoring its first year in return for the ticket revenue going to Save the Children.
Gordon was a great support to many Suffolk businesses, including Gerald Milsom’s then-fledgling hospitality business, Pauls & White Ltd agricultural merchants who now own the Suffolk Food Hall, and Grigsmore Advertising, which had premises opposite Chantry Park.
Gordon Angell died on March 9, 2023, after a long battle with dementia, aged 95.
“From first realising his memory was going a full five years earlier, he never once complained throughout seven long years of illness,” said Emma-Kate.
“Discharged with a diagnosis of vascular dementia and no offers of help, he realised this battle was going to be like all the others he’d previously faced.
“And just like the small boy who rolled up his new coat after Sunday School, to store it safely in the gutter before getting in a fight; he realised you can only prepare for so much.
“The rest you just take on the chin.”
Gordon leaves behind his beloved wife Margaret, with whom he spent 61 happy years, his three children, nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Earlier this month, tributes were paid to Maud Cattermole from Stowmarket, who passed away aged 103.
To read more obituaries to people from Suffolk, visit the EADT's Facebook group Suffolk's Loved and Lost.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here