Tributes to retired chemist who served King's Lynn
Christopher Lindley, an industrial chemist whose faith drove him to help those in need has died aged 98. He worked for many years on the executive of Churches Together in King’s Lynn. His family pays tribute.
Christopher Denis Lindley, who has died at the age of 98, was born on 8th June 1926 to mother, Muriel, aged 36, and father, Harold, aged 42. He was the youngest of four siblings with brothers Michael and David, and sister Helen. He was born in the family home in Gt. Missenden in Buckinghamshire.
Christopher was baptised on 11th July 1926 in Gt. Missenden parish church of Saints Peter and Paul. He recalled seldom attending church as a child until he entered boarding school. Just before the age of nine he was enrolled at Bowden House in Seaford where a weekly Sunday service was undertaken in the school chapel. In 1940 he moved to Bryanston School in Blandford, and it was here that his faith moved to the next level. Bryanston made use of the parish church for Sunday services and had a chapel in the grounds, and it was here he was confirmed in 1941.
As a gift, he received a prayer book from his father to commemorate his confirmation, which his father had inscribed with a quotation from 1 Corinthians 15.58: “Well then my beloved brothers hold your ground immovable; abound in work for the Lord at all times, for you may be sure that in the Lord your labour is never thrown away.”
Christopher served for two years in the army between December 1945 and January 1948 and in that time described his faith as being in hibernation. In 1948 he started his undergraduate degree at Downing college, Cambridge University to read Natural Sciences. He described his faith as remaining in hibernation until meeting a certain Anne Nuttgens in the summer of 1949. Anne was a Catholic and this was all the motivation Christopher needed to convert from C of E to Catholicism.
In 1950 Christopher started his first job working for Imperial Chemical Industries, or ICI, on a princely sum of £38 per week. A couple of years later he moved to a different company called American Cyanamid sharing his time between the London office and undertaking field testing trials of new chemicals. In 1967, after working in America the family followed Christopher as he moved to work in Zurich, Switzerland, which would become home for the next 17 years, before a further four-year stint back at U.S. headquarters in 1984 until his retirement.
During his work Christopher helped to develop an important insecticide chemical called Abate used to eradicate Guinea Worm Disease. This disease affects some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world, who have no access to clean and safe water.
Christopher spent his retirement working as a volunteer for several organisations and charities in a variety of roles, but all with the same purpose, to help those in need. He worked voluntarily for Churches Together; The Prison Dialogue Group; and a charity originally named KLARS. During his time with the Prison Dialogue group, he had spells as secretary and subsequently director during which time he was an active prison visitor.
KLARS was the Kings Lynn Area Resettlement Support charity born out of work by the Churches Together group. The aim of this organisation was to help asylum seekers, refugees, and migrant workers in the area. KLARS provided drop-in sessions across Wisbech and Kings Lynn with multi-lingual project workers and volunteers providing advice and guidance.
Christopher Dennis Lindley is a person who, with the support of his loving wife Anne, achieved more for others during his life than most ever will. On learning of his death, people that worked with Christopher described him as: gentle, caring, clever, precise and a good Christian.
Adapted from a eulogy which was written by the Lindley family.