A retired head teacher who spent the whole of his adult life helping children recently celebrated his 90th birthday.

John Veysey, who currently lives in Naphill, celebrated his milestone birthday at Hughenden Valley Village Hall on Saturday, October 12, with his wife of 66 years, three children, seven grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren as well as other family members and many friends.

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Mr Veysey moved to Hughenden Valley in 1967 when he was appointed Head teacher of Kingswood Middle School in Totteridge.

He held the post until his retirement in 1991.

His daughter Elaine said: “Dad is someone that people loved.”

“To this day, people still recognize dad, and they’ll always say, ‘hello Mr. Veysey’ and they are grown adults.

“They’ll start to reminisce about all the things dad did when he was the head teacher and it’s great to see, as it shows he had such an impact on the students at Kingswood.”

John and his wife Sheila, first moved to Hughenden Valley in 1967 when John was appointed head teacher of the middle school, where he was remembered by staff and pupils with great fondness, respect and affection.

During his time there, he was also the treasurer of the Hughenden Valley’s village hall, which he held for 34 years.

He was also secretary of Hughenden Allotment and Gardening Association and Treasurer of the Retired Teachers Association as well as a member of Union Baptist Church for 52 years.

And on top of this, the 90-year-old wrote two books: one about the church’s history to celebrate its 150th anniversary, with the other book focusing on Hughenden Valley.

The latter was written to raise money for the MS Society.

Elaine added: “His love of camping, gardening, music and scouting has permeated the generations.

“He has achieved so much and touched so many lives and is wished many more years of health and happiness.”

Prior to his teaching career, John served two years with the RAF just after World War II and was posted to Samba Wong, Singapore as a mechanic.