Robert Tunnicliffe, 83
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Robert Tunnicliffe, 83, of 9 South Main St. died peacefully on Saturday, July 16, 2011, at home.
Born in Coatbridge, Scotland, on June 17, 1928, to John and Maggie Jarvie Lang Robin Meiklejohn Tunnicliffe, he attended schools there and, when he was 17, began work as a histology trainee at Glasgow University.
He enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps at age 18, serving as a histology technician at the British Medical Hospital's Central Command Laboratory in Hamburg, Germany, from 1946 to 1948. After his military service, he continued his education in histopathology and hematology while working at Glasgow University and, at 24, was elected a fellow of the Institute of Medical Laboratory Technologists.
He married the former Jeanie Currie Wilson Russell in 1954 and immigrated to the United States in 1965, residing in Guilderland, N.Y., until moving to Lanesborough in 1973.
Mr. Tunnicliffe was pathology supervisor at Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, working there for 22 years until retiring in 1995. He was first employed as a senior pathology technician at Glasgow's Southern General Hospital from 1950 to 1955, then spent 10 years as a pathology supervisor at Mekerere University in Kampala, Uganda, though he and his family spent summers in Paisley, Scotland. From 1965 to 1973, he was an assistant administrator and pathology supervisor at Albany (N.Y.) Medical College.
In retirement, he maintained a vigorous schedule playing the bagpipes professionally and traveling. He was a member of the St. Andrew's Society of Albany. He was a true hobbyist, artist and storyteller and had vast appreciations and creative passions throughout his life. He enjoyed collecting and listening to music, carpentry, Scottish and World War I history, movies, his home and workshop, attending and participating in all his children's activities, telling jokes, chatting with neighbors, running, going for walks, metalworking and sculpture, sailing, gardening, splitting and stacking wood, rugby, three-week camping trips, his professional life, nature, dogs, watching football, genealogy, photography, writing poetry, reading, sketching, drinking tea, and baking bread to name a few.
He was especially fond of repairing and building things himself and was renowned for the art of frugality, always to his great amusement and our ever-loving chagrin. He was proud of and interested in his family and cherished and maintained lifelong friendships.
He leaves his wife of 25 years, Nancy Crutcher Tunnicliffe, and their daughter, Gwendolyn Bliss Tunnicliffe of Lanesboro; his first wife, Jean Russell-Morris of Williamstown, with whom he remained close, and their three daughters, Ruth Tunnicliffe of Williamstown, Jane Stine and her husband, James, of Queensbury N.Y., and Sheila Mason and her husband, Toby, of Hancock, and their son, John Tunnicliffe of Stockbridge; four grandchildren, a great-granddaughter, nieces and nephews and his dog, Fiona.
He was predeceased by his sister, Nan Graham, late of Coatbridge, and his brother, George "Jock" Tunnicliffe, late of Auckland, New Zealand.
FUNERAL NOTICE — An open house in celebration of Mr. Tunnicliffe's life will be held at the Tunnicliffe residence, 9 South Main St., Lanesborough on Thursday, July 28, from 4 until 8 p.m. The house is located on the corner of Summer and Main street (Route 7) with parking available across Main Street on Maple Court. At a later date, the family will hold a private burial at Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, N.Y.
Memorial donations are suggested for the Robert Tunnicliffe Heritage Foundation, an annual scholarship awarded by the St. Andrew's Society to a student pursuing the study of Scottish arts, through the St. Andrew's Society of Albany, 150 Washington Ave., Albany NY 12210 or HospiceCare in the Berskhires through Flynn & Dagnoli-Montagna Home for Funerals, West Chapels, 521 West Main St., North Adams.