Michael Lavender-Jones (41-45) died in 2019, aged 90, as the OP Society was informed by his widow Sheila in 2021. He had four children, including two daughters, and lived in St. Albans, Hertfordshire

At the Nautical College, where he was known as M.S.L. Jones, Michael was in the MN (Merchant Navy) form, Chief of Macquarie in Lent Term 1945 and a full-back in the Hockey 1st X1 having captained the 2nd XV Rugby team the previous term. As stated in the Summer Term 1945 edition of The Log, he left the NCP to join the shipping line T&J Harrison.

According to his wife, however, he had applied to join the Royal Navy “but Pangbourne messed up his application.” Forced to wait for a year to join the RN, he took a job with the tobacco company Benson & Hedges, “tasted money” and stayed with the firm. In 1956 he married and moved to Manchester as the manager of the B&H factory there. Later appointments with the company posted the couple to Northern Ireland, London, and the Netherlands where he was tasked with taking over a family business.

By 1980 Michael was living in Hong Kong and visiting China (which had just opened its borders) each month, returning regularly to the UK for board meetings. In 1982 he was given a global role in B&H, travelling the world and setting up many new businesses. Retiring in 1987, he joined the inventor George Robins (41-44; obituary March 2021) in a new venture that lasted for some years. When interest waned he spent much of his spare time helping to build a boat called Tenacious, working on the planks for the hull. Once the boat was launched, Michael supported local charities and played golf until the year before he died.