I knew David during my time as Director of Bede House Association, a small local charity in Bermondsey, where David was Finance Manager from 2001 to 2011. Bede provides services for adults with learning disabilities, youth clubs for children from low income families and practical help for women experiencing domestic abuse. David managed our day to day accounts and was our only finance worker. He was therefore a key member of the team – without him our services for our clients could not happen. David had a long journey to Bede each day from his home in Bromley and sometimes, when he was not well, he could not make it in. However, he was proud of the fact that he never once missed the deadline to process our monthly payroll – our 30 plus staff were always grateful for that! David was a very private man who lived at home with his parents. He was very intelligent and had a keen interest in politics – he’d campaigned for the Labour Party at different elections and studied through the Open University. A colleague, Terry Hardy, remembers conversations ranging from the plays of Shakespeare to the poems of T. S. Eliot, “The Shakespeare he loved,” Terry says, “the Eliot he struggled with. Terry offered his views on the poetry of Eliot but he didn’t think it helped David a great deal with the essay he was writing. David’s main love was indeed Shakespeare and live theatre and he always booked his summer holiday so he could spend it at the Bard’s birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon and watch live performances of his plays. David was gentle, with a whimsical sense of humour. Before coming to Bede, he had worked in the finance department of Panini. They still publish photos of football players as stickers which children love to collect into albums and trade in school playgrounds. My sons had been keen collectors and David and I both took delight in the thought that he had been part of something that had brought my two boys so much excitement. We lost touch after David left Bede, but whenever I have been in a newsagent and seen Panini’s adverts for their new collection of Premier League stickers I’ve thought of him and hoped he was well. Now, I, and all his colleagues at Bede, hope that he is at peace. Nick Dunne

I met you through various courses with the OU. In the early days I often needed help finding my way around and yours was always a friendly face that cropped up to help. I shall miss your presence on Facebook so much too. Your comments and post made me smile, laugh and sometimes snort out loud. I often read them out to my family who came to know your name well. You shall be missed, David Humble, very much indeed.

Thank you for setting up this memorial to David. We hope that you find it a positive experience developing the site and that it becomes a place of comfort and inspiration for you to visit whenever you want or need to.