It is with great sadness that the University of Birmingham has learned of the passing of Mr John Wedderburn.
J
ohn was one of the technicians in the School of Metallurgy and Materials and had worked at the University of Birmingham for over 30 years. He began his career here with a post in Mechanical Engineering and, during his time at the University, he worked in a number of research areas including machining, superconducting materials and ceramics processing.
More recently, John had been focussing on maintaining the capability and equipment in our ceramic processing labs, while also helping in the composites labs.
John will be dearly missed, particularly amongst those closest to him.
John's funeral took place on Friday 12 January at Sandwell Crematorium.
You are welcome to submit a message of condolence here, which will be reviewed before publishing on this page.
RIP my big cousin. Your will always me forever missed ❤️
Damien Morgan.
With deepest sympathy for your sad loss- John will be missed within our School and wider University community
Professor Paul Bowen, Head of School 2001-2016, Metallurgy and Materials.
Please convey my very deepest condolences to all of Johns family and friends, his untimely passing was a shock indeed, I am fortunate to have enjoyed his company over many years ,both at work and socially, I will remember with great fondness his humour and wonderful laugh, through good times and bad, you are greatly missed my good friend.
Mr Andy Bradshaw, Met & Mat ,Hypromag ,visitor status working from Scotland.
Please accept my sincere condolences. John was always very talkative and friendly whenever we met each other in the School and passed the time of day and so his familiar face and smile will be missed by many.
Clive Ponton, School of Metallurgy and Materials.
I will miss seeing John's smile in the corridor and being called "the space lady." My condolences to the family.
Leah-Nani, Met & Mat.
John's amazing sense of humour and fun-loving personality will stay with us. He will be greatly missed.
Dave, Met & Mat.
Thinking of you John. Will miss your chats and laughter in the Met& Mat workshop. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Rest in peace John.
Jag Sangha - Workshop Manager, Met & Mat Workshop.
Sending sincere and heartfelt condolences to John’s family and close friends. I had met John when I first joined the School of Met & Mat mid 2022 and found him to be warm, cheerful and engaging whenever we had an opportunity to speak in passing and during our school social gatherings. The loss of John has been felt by many of his friends and colleagues within the School/ University and we will continue to celebrate his personality, contribution, and memories for years to come.
Danielle Williams, Operations Officer, Metallurgy and Materials.
Sending sincere heartfelt condolences to John's family at this very sad and difficult time.
Jenny Bansal, Operations Officer, School of Chemical Engineering, Birmingham Centre for Energy Storage.
Rest in Peace John. Condolences to the whole family.
Dana, Metallurgy and Materials.
I've known John for the 8 years that I've worked on met and mat, during that time we had many conversations and a lot of laughs together, he always had an opinion on everything especially the government, I cant believe that he's passed away at a young age. His personality, laughter, and his humour will be a great loss to his friends, family and all who knew him. We will miss you John. Rest in Peace, always thinking of you. John and Adrian, cleaning services.
John Overthrow, Cleaning Services.
Wishing all Johns family my deepest sympathy, in the sad loss of such a lovely person as I write this with a very heavy heart it is still numb in my bones. John was a very frequent visitor to the Metallurgy E.P.S. WORKSHOP where I used to (MENTOR HIM) share his hopes, dreams, thoughts and would talk about all subjects you could think of. When walking past his favourite machines I still feel a loss that is going to take a long time to heal. His jovial demeanour and frequent smile will be missed as well as his catch phrase as he walked through the Workshop door, oh have I got my timing wrong not tea break again lol. REST IN PEACE JOHN, TONE. X
Anthony (Tone) Barnes, Mechanical Technician.
We will miss your laughs and your stories and good company . Every day we know some one is missing and will not be the same with out you popping into the workshop regularly for a chat and a laugh. Anthony (workshop).
Anthony Page.
I only recently got to know John and he was a bright spark, full of life and smiles. My heart goes out to his close friends and family. I will miss his laugh when visiting the workshop, it is a great loss to all that knew him. Rest in peace John. xxx
Laine - EPS Workshop Coordinator.