It is with much sadness that I have to report that Nicky died peacefully in his sleep at Wexham Park Hospital, Slough, on Wednesday 1st July, having been admitted a week earlier following a deterioration in his health. A memorial service is being planned for later in the year.
Nicky was born on 19th May 1909, and at 106 was probably the oldest active Rotarian in the world. He was inducted into the Rotary Club of Maidenhead in 1959, and was our President in 1973/74. His life has been one of quiet service, and he totally fulfilled the exhortation of Horace to 'Do good by stealth and blush to find it fame'.
His impact locally on services to the old with Abbeyfield and with Mencap were recognised in 1983, and then of course the more recent revealing of what is now known as Nicky's Family led to international recognition. Amongst the honours bestowed on Nicky were:
Rotary
October 1991: Paul Harris Fellow
1999/2000: Rotary International Service Above Self Award
2008: Paul Harris with Sapphires at Rotary in Great Britain & Ireland Conference
UK
1993: MBE, for charitable work with the elderly
1999: Freedom of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
2003: Knighthood, New Years Honours list for services to humanity
2015: Freedom of the City of London
International
1998: Freedom of the City of Prague, Czech Order of T G Masaryk
Sept 2007: US Congress Resolution 583 (see below)
Oct 2007: Czech Cross of the 1st Class, Nobel Peace Prize nomination by Czech Republic
Oct 2014: Czech Order of the White Lion (highest Czech award)
Nicky summed up his approach to life and its challenges in two statements: "If a thing is not obviously impossible to do, then there must be some way of doing it" and "Don't be content in your life just to do no wrong, be prepared every day to try and do some good".
US Congress Resolution 583
"The House of Representatives commends Sir Nicholas Winton, and those British and Czechoslovakian citizens who worked with him, for their remarkable persistence and selfless courage in saving the lives of 669 Czechoslovak Jewish children in the months before the outbreak of World War II, and urges men and women everywhere to recognize in Winton's remarkable humanitarian effort the difference that one devoted, principled individual can make in changing and improving the lives of others."
Representative Ron Klein quoted Nicky Winton in supporting the resolution: "In 1939, as he scrambled to save hundreds of lives, Nicholas Winton wrote in a letter: "There is a difference between passive goodness and active goodness, which is, in my opinion, the giving of one's time and energy in the alleviation of pain and suffering. It entails going out, finding and helping those in suffering and danger and not merely in leading an exemplary life in a purely passive way of doing no wrong."
Nicky was born on 19th May 1909, and at 106 was probably the oldest active Rotarian in the world. He was inducted into the Rotary Club of Maidenhead in 1959, and was our President in 1973/74. His life has been one of quiet service, and he totally fulfilled the exhortation of Horace to 'Do good by stealth and blush to find it fame'.
His impact locally on services to the old with Abbeyfield and with Mencap were recognised in 1983, and then of course the more recent revealing of what is now known as Nicky's Family led to international recognition. Amongst the honours bestowed on Nicky were:
Rotary
October 1991: Paul Harris Fellow
1999/2000: Rotary International Service Above Self Award
2008: Paul Harris with Sapphires at Rotary in Great Britain & Ireland Conference
UK
1993: MBE, for charitable work with the elderly
1999: Freedom of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
2003: Knighthood, New Years Honours list for services to humanity
2015: Freedom of the City of London
International
1998: Freedom of the City of Prague, Czech Order of T G Masaryk
Sept 2007: US Congress Resolution 583 (see below)
Oct 2007: Czech Cross of the 1st Class, Nobel Peace Prize nomination by Czech Republic
Oct 2014: Czech Order of the White Lion (highest Czech award)
Nicky summed up his approach to life and its challenges in two statements: "If a thing is not obviously impossible to do, then there must be some way of doing it" and "Don't be content in your life just to do no wrong, be prepared every day to try and do some good".
US Congress Resolution 583
"The House of Representatives commends Sir Nicholas Winton, and those British and Czechoslovakian citizens who worked with him, for their remarkable persistence and selfless courage in saving the lives of 669 Czechoslovak Jewish children in the months before the outbreak of World War II, and urges men and women everywhere to recognize in Winton's remarkable humanitarian effort the difference that one devoted, principled individual can make in changing and improving the lives of others."
Representative Ron Klein quoted Nicky Winton in supporting the resolution: "In 1939, as he scrambled to save hundreds of lives, Nicholas Winton wrote in a letter: "There is a difference between passive goodness and active goodness, which is, in my opinion, the giving of one's time and energy in the alleviation of pain and suffering. It entails going out, finding and helping those in suffering and danger and not merely in leading an exemplary life in a purely passive way of doing no wrong."