Andy Hall

[Andrew Gabriel]

Folks, I'm really sad to report that Andy died in the early hours of Saturday 9th August following a massive stroke. He didn't wake up on Friday morning and was taken into hospital, where his condition worsened and the decision was made to switch off life support systems. It's not thought he would have been aware of his situation.

Andy leaves behind his wife and children and his parents. I'm sure many of us here will also feel his loss deeply, as do his colleagues at Packet Design where he was the Technical Director covering Europe, Middle East, and Africa regions.

I spoke with his wife today, and she tells me that she too is into DIY, although probably not quite to the same extent as Andy.

Andy was a supporter of the Monkey World Ape Rescue Centre, and his family are directing any donations to the Jim Cronin Memorial Fund which supports it.

[tinnews]

[snip]

That is very sad to hear, Andy was one of the most prolific and useful posters to uk.d-i-y, he will be missed.

[Bruce]

[Derek Geldard]

A terrible shock.

His contributions here will be greatly missed.

Poor Andy.

Derek Geldard

[Rod]

Andrew, thank you for letting us know.

Agree or disagree - and I did both - he will be missed. Most especially, by me, on many of the off-topic rambles and meanders.

It would be nice to think that his family could come by here sometime and read this.

[Tim S]

Andrew Gabriel coughed up some electrons that declared:

This is a shock. My condolences to his family - I will always be grateful for Andy's contributions to this group. He has given me a number of ideas over the last few years, which are now proving to be invaluable for the current job in hand.

Best wishes, Tim

[Bob Eager]

That's terrible. I'll miss lots about Andy...the ideas, the perfectionism (to aspire to, at the very least), and of course taking the rise out of him too!

A sad loss.

[Grunff]

This is very sad indeed. Andy was truly one of a kind, who touched everyone he met, with his fantastic sense of humour and in-depth knowledge of almost all subjects. Both myself and Mrs G will miss him greatly, and feel priviliged to have known him.

[Tony Bryer]

That is a real real shock: I've met Andy at several meets and the Sandown woodworking show. We may not have agreed about everything but his contributions to this group will be sadly missed

[Tim Downie]

Over 22,000 posts to uk.d-i-y, over 27,000 to usenet overall. Possibly more under a different ID in the past. That's quite some record.

Tim

[Roger Mills]

That is very sad news indeed. Andy always demonstrated a very professional approach to all subjects on which he posted, and I had a great deal of respect for him - although I never met him in the flesh.

I was aware from his posts that he had various health problems - but his sudden demise is still a great shock.

This NG will be poorer without him.

RIP Andy.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

[snip]

How very sad. One of nature's gentlemen - that opinion reinforced on the couple of occasions I met him in person.

His posts will be much missed for the levelness they brought into many a discussion - as will his excellent advice on those things he was expert in, which were many.

[S Viemeister]

Thank you for letting us know. I had wondered where he was, and was considering posting to ask if he was okay. His contributions here will be missed.

Sheila Viemeister

[Peter Parry]

We never met but I'll miss him. The debate about Agas will never be quite the same again. He was always ready to argue his case eloquently yet at the same time gave freely of his time to help others particularly newcomers here.

[Mary Fisher]

...

Yes, I'm very sorry and it would be good if his family could be sent our condolences.

Mary

[TheScullster]

snip...........

I was genuinely shocked and saddened to hear this news despite never having met Andy. No disrespect to any other members here (as many have been of such invaluable assistance), but it was always reassuring to have a contribution from Andy in the thread of a post - his input was always right on the money. UK.D-I-Y has certainly lost one of its key contributors.

As others have said, I sincerely hope that his close friends and family are shown this thread so that they understand the repect that others had for Andy. My condolences to his family.

Phil

[Frank Erskine]

Really sad news, Andrew. He'll be sorely missed on here.

[Adrian C]

Sad news. This newsgroup will be overrun by complaints on cheap chinese ALDI/LIDL tools, and Mr Hall won't get the chance to say "I told you so..."

He'll miss that, and we'll miss him for it....

[The Night Tripper]

That's very sad news. Thanks Andrew, for taking the trouble to find out.

I too hope that you might pass on to his family our appreciation of Andy's high-quality contribution to this newsgroup over many years.

Regards Jon N

[EricP]

I liked this man. He was always helpful and had time for new people with daft questions.

He helped me a lot with my projects, particularly my new CH and was a great help to me.

I will miss reading him. :(

R.I.P.