By Peter Elliott
Colin was a longstanding member and Fellow of ICorr who I first met in 1975 through John Wood, a Professor in what was then the Metallurgy Department of Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA. John was looking for English speaking corrosion people who could join him as faculty members on an “Industrial Corrosion” training course offered by the Center for Professional Advancement (CfPA) managed locally from Amsterdam, with headquarters in East Brunswick, New Jersey, USA. What a great meeting that was – convincing an American that Colin, born in Watford, at college in Oxford, and living for many years in Kimbolton village, Cambridgeshire, and myself (a Mancunian) could ever agree on how to pronounce “lorry” or “lurry”, never mind lecturing in Europe or the States, sorting out traveling (travelling), and a changing vocabulary that included sulfur (sulphur), color (colour), and odor (odour)… I settled for “smell” for the latter!
Colin was one of the kindest gentlemen I have known. He was always ready to complement his knowledge and expertise in corrosion, monitoring and inspection with practical skills he gained from work at Harwell Atomic Energy Research Establishment, and Rohrback Corporation – Europe. His teaching skills matched his listening skills, because I (as many know) usually talk too much.
I have many more fond memories of Colin and will close by adding that he was a good family man; Thelma often joined us in Holland to help as we tried to translate words that were Double Dutch to us (languages again?). His early interests in music usually found us at the concert hall of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, where we sat in seats behind the orchestra. On one occasion as the drum folk (directly across from us) were getting ready to let go in Kienzl’s Don Quixote, Colin noticed that John Wood was “nodding” asleep. I nudged him just before he would leap up and shout something naughty in any language.
Colin is survived by his wife Thelma, his daughter Claire Boardman, his grandchildren James and Alex Boardman, and great grandchildren Elijah and Joshua. Colin’s Tribute page can be found at colinbritton.muchloved.com.
