Martin Strawson's Memorial Website

When you first arrive at university, what you really want to see is a friendly face – even if it belongs to someone you’ve never met before. For me, and many others, Martin was one of those faces. In many ways we were very different people but Martin’s natural warmth and convivial approach to life led to a lasting friendship, both with him and the many people he introduced me to in Lake Wydd (including Dave Giddings, Vic, Jo and Ceri). Thanks to Martin, I now have an incredible group of lifelong friends that I will always be eternally grateful for. I’m also glad that I spent so much alone with him over the last year, when I saw him at his most confident, happy and relaxed. Whenever I think of Martin, the first memory that hits me is from Vic’s wedding only a few months ago. It was at the reception and he was throwing himself into the traditional Ceilidh dancing with his usual carefree abandon - and a massive grin on his face! That’s how I’ll always remember him. Paul Devlin

What can we really say about Martin... We were both at Birmingham University with him and lived in Lake/Wydd hall. I studied Biology with him so I got to know him quite well from early on. He was such a nice guy, genuine and honest, very friendly, and always there to help his friends. We had many good laughs together at hall events, parties and outings that we went on. Martin always put every effort into everything he did, whether it be work, charity or even fancy dress! Many of us will no doubt remember him turning up to a bad taste fancy dress party in a lab coat covered in offal! Someone I now work with in Sheffield was a demonstrator in our first year practicals, he remember Martin as being "a really nice guy who never stopped asking questions and had a great desire to understand more and more... he often kept us on our toes, as he certainly teste( what we knew!". After I finished in Birmingham I went on to do a Ph.D. at a research institute in Oxford but I was affiliated to Cardiff University. I remember when Martin moved to Cardiff to work in their records department he gleefully told me that he now had full access to my records and would be able to see what I was up to and how my studies were progressing. He never did as it was against his principles, but it made for a good laugh and we would joke about how he could alter my records. When Martin moved up to Sheffield, we were friendly faces that he knew, but as he was such a likeable person it didn't take him long to settle in and make lots of friends. No one who ever met Martin disliked him. Helen is a cardiac nurse in Sheffield, and works in the same hospital that Martin was admitted to with appendicitis. It was a shock for us to learn, as it was for Martin, that he had a problem with his heart. Between us we tried to help keep him supplied with company, food and magazines to stop him getting too bored. Helen, as you can imagine, was interrogated by Martin to explain everything that was being done to him. We were both glad to see him soon bounce back to his normal self. Martin was a good friend and will dearly be missed. We will always treasure the memories that we have of him and keep him in our thoughts and prayers. Ashley and Helen

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