Our friend and colleague Chris Why died suddenly whilst on assignment for Kildrummy in the Sultanate of Oman. His funeral last Friday in his home town in Staffordshire was attended by scores of friends and former colleagues.

Chris joined Kildrummy from Parsons in February 2001 as an account manager, and remained with us until mid-way through 2004. During this period Kildrummy was expanding rapidly and I found myself spending more and more time in our London office. Many evenings we would finish work and head for a nearby pub to sit and discuss the way forward. We all felt passionately about the company and the benefits we delivered, and these conversations would sometimes continue late into the evening, often at Chris’s apartment. Chris’s enthusiasm was infectious.

On several occasions Chris and I packed our bags and toured Europe, demonstrating our software, supporting our clients and partying. Chris was good at partying. When I think of Chris, I think of his wide, happy grin and the fun shining in his eyes.

After leaving Kildrummy Chris moved to Intergraph (now Hexagon) and stayed there for a decade or more. He kept in touch with us at Kildrummy, and when he left Hexagon we immediately offered him a directorship, and just as quickly Chris accepted. Chris was never a man to back off from a challenge. We had a brand-new product on the way, the culmination of seven years of intense R&D, and Chris took on the job of proving it, writing the user documentation, determining the best way to implement it and finally, going out into the field to install it on projects.

It was near the end one of these jobs, with the system in the client’s hands, implemented and ready to roll, that Chris died.

Since Chris passed away there has been an outpouring of disbelief and genuine grief from dozens, probably hundreds, of people who knew him and knew just how alive he was. It seems incredible that he is no longer with us.

I miss him, we miss him, I think that a great many people miss him. Chris was hard-working, reliable, straightforward, honourable and such a delight to be with.

Chris leaves behind a wife and a step-daughter, and our hearts and our prayers go out to them.

May he rest in peace.

Kenneth Beer
Chairman
The Kildrummy Corporation Limited
26 February 2019