Forum for former BBC staff

Forum for former BBC staff
http://www.ex-bbc.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl >> Notices, obituaries and tributes >> Jeff Hamer http://www.ex-bbc.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1408828220 Message started by GaryC on Aug 23^rd, 2014, 9:11pm

Title: Jeff Hamer
Post by GaryC on Aug 23^rd, 2014, 9:11pm

I attended Jeff's funeral this afternoon. I met him on my very first day of work, at the Transcription Unit at Kensington House in August 1976 and knew him right up to the end. The big thing in Jeff's life was music, simple as that. He was literally a walking encyclopedia about it. He finally got his dream job of working in the Gram Library at Egton House in 1977.
He was a BBC man through and through and absolutely hated having to take early retirement from the Corporation because of an arthritic knee. He was aghast at some the things that had happened at/to the BBC in recent times. It was an absolute honour to have known him. Right up to May this year I could ring him and ask what track I had just heard on some new commercial on the tv, he would always come back with the right answer. We attended the presentation at Bafta when some of the Bob Monkhouse Collection was screened, I know he enjoyed that. Since his passing, there has already been a couple of occasions where I have found myself thinking 'Jeff would have enjoyed that'. RIP my friend.

Title: Re: Jeff Hamer
Post by TomT on Aug 24^th, 2014, 9:39pm

Sorry to hear about Jeff's passing, I remember him from way back in the early 70s when I was a TRU engineer at Kensington House. As you mentioned Gary, he was a mine of information.

Title: Re: Jeff Hamer
Post by AdrianHB on Aug 25^th, 2014, 11:08am

I don't have much to add to what Gary and Tom said. He had huge knowledge which he wore lightly, and also one of the nicest people I knew at the BBC. I worked with him at BBC Gram Library but had lost touch until the end of last year, when we had a phone call that ended up lasting 90 minutes, talking about old record shops in London.

Gary, were you one of the group of four or five I talked to outside the cemetery chapel? Sorry, I didn't catch most names.

Title: Re: Jeff Hamer
Post by GaryC on Aug 25^th, 2014, 8:52pm

hi Adrian, yes, we chatted for a while after the service.