Mike Grigson (C1 1947-52) was born on 13 Dec 1933 to Mary and Jack Grigson, an RAF pilot who served in both world wars.

He was educated at Twyford School (ca. 1942-1947) and Marlborough College (1947-52). From Marlborough he took the engineering tripos at Queens College Cambridge, followed later by a diploma in electronics at Southampton. It was in Southampton that he met his wife Janet, and they were married in 1963.

Mike followed his father into the Royal Air Force where he had a long career as engineering officer, retiring with the rank of  Wing Commander in 1988. This was followed by a string of civilian roles in the Ministry of Defence, the last being at DERA Malvern (formerly the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment) which he left in 1996. It was a career that took him all over the world and involved a huge spread of technologies: fighter and bomber aircraft, radars, short range air defence systems, communications and electronic warfare.

A successful application for a Defence Fellowship enabled Mike to study for a PhD with the University of Surrey, from where he graduated in 1988.

After moving house six times in sixteen years, in 1979 Mike and Janet settled in Sherston, north Wiltshire, where they remained for the next 45 years. Mike and Janet’s home was a friendly place where visitors were always welcome, though navigating the small cluttered rooms could sometimes be a challenge! They were active in the community. Mike was a member of the village methodist church for 40 years and for the past 20 years or so he regularly attended St John the Baptist in Brokenborough.

Mike was a lover of machines of all sorts, and he knew how to fix amost anything. He could often be found at home working on the car, or repairing the toaster or TV. His lifelong fascination with motorbikes culminated in his rebuild of an Excelsior Talisman, a model that he had owned in the 1950s. The rebuild was completed at the age of 90 in 2024.

Another of Mike’s loves was gardening and he had a succession of well cultivated vegetable and fruit gardens. In the summer months visitors would find themselves leaving with a bag of potatoes, beans or apples. Mike and Janet’s houses always had well kept borders, and roses were a particular favorite. Mike’s gardening continued during his last year when, with the assistance of his daughter in law Angela, an illicit tomato plant was installed in the window of his bedroom at the care home.

Mike led a full life with many different aspects to it; he was as happy discussing the merits of how much manure to add to courgettes as he was explaining the correct way to wire a ring main or the politics of the Iraq war. This diversity was accompanied by a high level of drive. For example while working in London he would run up escalators on the tube, and while at home a frequent complaint after an evening watering the garden would be that ‘there aren’t enough hours of daylight’.

Mike had a slightly mischievous side and at work he had a reputation for being able to deliver difficult outcomes using unconventional or imaginative means. If ‘unnessary’ rules were sometimes broken this was OK, as long as it led to the right result. It was these qualities which led to his colleagues nicknaming him ‘Gandalf’ during a tour in London.

Post retirement, Mike and Janet enjoyed travel to the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Sadly Janet’s health deteriorated from the mid-1990s onwards, but Mike worked tirelessly to make sure she got the best medical and personal care possible. He continued to care for her at home until his own deteriorating health finally prevented him from doing so.

Mike’s care for others extended beyond his immediate family and he was always looking for ways to support people in need in whatever way he could. The work he did to support the local churches was perhaps the most obvious but he also did much to support individuals and businesses he thought were in need.

At the end of 2024 after Mike had a series of falls, he and Janet moved to a care home in Ilkley to be closer to family. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease which he bore without complaint despite the suffering it caused him.

Mike passed away peacefully on 5 July 2026. He leaves behind his wife Janet, sons Pete and Chris  and their partners Angela and Mary, and his brother Simon.