William Henry Wittrick, 29 October 1922 - 2 July 1986
William Henry Wittrick was born in Huddersfield on 29 October 1922. His father, Frank Wittrick (1894-1960) was the eldest of three sons of an iron and steel merchant in Huddersfield who died in 1913. After leaving school Frank Wittrick completed an engineering apprenticeship with a view to joining his father in the firm of steel merchants, but his father’s death and World War I prevented this plan from being realized. Frank Wittrick enlisted in 1914 and served in France through most of the war; he was wounded and emerged with impaired health. In 1919 he set up a business as a haulage contractor but this failed in the depression some years later. In 1921 he married Jessie, eldest child of Walter Jury, a builder in Huddersfield. He then had a variety of jobs, including working for an insurance company and as a bus driver, but on the outbreak of World War II he went to work for an engineering firm in Huddersfield, which specialized in valve manufacture, and stayed with them until he retired through ill-health in the mid-1950s. William’s mother, Jessie, was a proficient pianist and also had a fine contralto voice. She sang in the well-known Huddersfield Choral Society but, regrettably, she left it after her marriage. Nevertheless, as a boy William spent many enjoyable musical evenings around the piano with his family and other relatives or friends, and his mother playing the piano and leading the singing.