SADLY, on the December 19, 2010, Dr J V R Marriott died in Worcester Hospital following a stroke at his home in Leigh, between Malvern and Worcester. He was 89.

Born in France to English parents in May 1921, Jack attended bi-lingual school in Paris, this was to serve him well in later life.

Following the German invasion of France in 1940, the family returned to England by way of Bordeaux and settled in Coventry.

Sponsored by the chemicals company ICI, Jack enrolled at Birmingham University to study chemistry.

During his studies as part of the war effort, he joined his brother Tony at Radford Hall Farm. It was here that he met Pat. They were married in 1944 and went on to have two sons and a daughter.

After completing his PhD, Jack worked at ICI in Manchester for several years before landing the job of Chief Research Chemist at Courtaulds, the English Chemical and Fibre Company in Calais.

On returning to the UK, Jack took up a senior post with Abbot Laboratories and the family settled in Kent. It was here that Jack developed a growing interest in fungi and field mycology. His scientific mind was ideally suited to the subject particularly with respect to the importance of detailed and accurate records.

In 1985 Jack retired and he and Pat moved to Oldcroft in the Forest of Dean. Jack very soon realised that this area was extremely rich and diverse in its population of fungi. Following one of his talks at the Dean Heritage Centre, along with a group of like-minded amateur mycologists, he formed the Dean Fungus Group in 1986.

Under Jack's guidance, the group developed over the years and liaised extensively with other local wildlife organisations such as the Forestry Commission, the Gloucester Naturalists Society and the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust. Today, the group's relations with those organisations are as strong as ever.

A longstanding member of the British Mycological Society, Jack was instrumental in setting up and running a national network of field mycology groups which now covers every county in the UK.

In October 2004, Jack and the group organised its first two day exhibition of the fungi of the Forest of Dean held at the Dean Heritage Centre. The event was a

resounding success and has been repeated every year since to the growing interest of the public.

Jack continued as chairman of the group until his retirement from active foraying in 2005. However, he maintained an academic involvement in field mycology through the publication of numerous identification keys for a range of fungal species. He would have been a staunch supporter of the "Hands off our Forest" campaign had he been alive today.

Wherever field mycologist gather for whatever reason, someone will always say with great pride – "Oh yes, I knew Jack Marriott".

– Keith Davies (current chairman of Dean Fungus Group).