A former librarian at the University of East Anglia and well-known figure in the Dereham area has died. Alex Noel-Tod was 60 and had been suffering from prostate cancer.
Alex was born in Madras, India on 18th June 1951. He went to school in Sherborne, Dorset, and studied English Literature at Trinity College, Cambridge.
After university, he trained as a librarian in Aberystwyth. He met his first wife, Jenny, while working at the Bodleian Library in Oxford. The couple’s twin sons, Jeremy and Matthew, were born in Stoke-on-Trent in 1978. In the same year, Alex was employed by the University of East Anglia.
The family moved to Dereham, where Jenny was a teacher at Dereham Church Middle School (now St Nicholas Junior School), and was also known for her involvement with St Nicholas Church.
In the 1980s, Alex was a member of Wymondham Runners, and ran the London Marathon. Later, he was a keen cyclist, and participated in events with Cycling Club Breckland. He often travelled by bike to work and around the county to visit family and friends.
After Jenny died in 2005, he took early retirement from UEA. He became a churchwarden at St. Nicholas and a school governor at the Junior School. After being diagnosed with cancer two years ago, he completed a 50-mile cycle ride for the Prostate Cancer Charity through the Peak District, which raised almost £3000.
Alex married again in 2010. With his second wife, Anne, he pursued an interest in local history by volunteering at the Gressenhall Rural Life Museum. They also enjoyed bird-watching at the coast and nearby reserves.
He is survived by Anne, his two children and two grandchildren.
© Dereham Times
Alexander Reginald Noel-Tod (1951-2012)
Born 18 June 1951
Sherborne School (Westcott House) 1964-1969, School Prefect, Upper 6th. Designed the sets for a joint production with Lord Digby’s School of Iolanthe performed on 12 & 13 July 1968.
Exhibitioner, Trinity College, Cambridge; Senior Scholar, BA.
University of Wales, Dip, Lib,, Thacker Scholar.
Library Association 1977.
Librarian, University of East Anglia.
Died 2012.