This is the eulogy given by the Vicar of Bourne, Canon John
Warwick at Louis Decamp's funeral at the Abbey Church in 1999.

Lou was born in Peterborough in 1919 and attended Deacon's School where he was a good scholar and particularly shone at games, becoming the Victor Ludorum.

At the outbreak of the Second World War he enlisted in the army and joined the 49th Division and served with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps. He escaped from France after Dunkirk, sailing in the Royal Ulsterman which stayed to rescue survivors of the Lancastria disaster.

Lou returned to France on the day after D Day, and was engaged in fighting through France and Holland. He became a Warrant Officer First Class and was mentioned in dispatches and had the distinction of being offered a commission in the field. After the war he spent two years training as a teacher at the Peterborough Training College, and during that period he captained the Peterborough Rugby Club and played cricket for the town.

In 1948 he was appointed to the staff of Bourne Secondary School and spent his entire teaching career at this school, moving with it to Edinburgh Crescent, and becoming deputy head in 1970. In 1980 he became headmaster and remained in that post until his retirement in April 1984. During much of this time, he also ran the Bourne Evening Institute which served not only the town but also many of the surrounding villages. As a teacher, therefore, he has touched many many lives and he greatly missed his classroom contacts when administrative duties distanced him from them.

Lou and Irene were married at the Abbey Church in 1956 and they had their two children Jane and Tom of whom Lou was immensely proud. His family life was very important to him and he has in recent years been very glad to welcome his five grandchildren. Also Lou has throughout his life been very close to his elder brother Jack.

Lou's youthful interest in all kinds of sport has been maintained throughout his life and he served for some years as captain of the cricket and hockey clubs in Bourne, had a great interest in rugby and much enjoyed fishing, shooting and golf.

In 1974 he was appointed a trustee of Bourne United Charities and has since then given of his time unstintingly to their activities and for the good of the whole community, having served as chairman from 1979 to 1980 and being a faithful attender at all the meetings, despite failing health. He attended his last committee meeting as recently as a few weeks ago. In this connection his advice has always been wise and practical, showing his great compassion and his grasp of what was sensible, and his opinions have been delivered in a crisp and witty manner which his fellow trustees have much appreciated. It is fitting that they are gathered together here this morning to pay their respects to a valued and much respected colleague.

Another great interest of Lou's has been his gardening. Latterly, through sheer determination, he sowed and planted seeds in his garden, and he has spent many happy hours in his greenhouse. He considered this year's crop of tomatoes to be his best ever and his marrows the largest, so he has finished on a high!

Lou by his modest and straightforward demeanour has endeared himself to many people: he was essentially a very humble person, not seeking his own advantage, and was always very generous and eager to see the good points of other people and to applaud their achievements. He genuinely loved his fellow human beings, was uncomplaining throughout life about his own problems and was always optimistic and cheerful, with a remarkably keen and often rather dry sense of humour.

As a teacher he has helped so many people in their young and formative days, and he was so proud when boys whom he remembered had been rather naughty at school came to him in later years having made a success of life and thanked him for his earlier help and guidance. A man of great integrity, many people are the richer for having known him, and have been uplifted by his sense of humour. To his adoring family he was simply the best, and we particularly condole with them in losing him.

We pray that they may be upheld and comforted in the difficult days of adjustment that lie ahead for them, and as we take our leave of Lou we express our thanksgiving for a life well and constructively and pleasantly lived out here on earth, at the same time as we commend his immortal soul to God's care and keeping.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE Louis Humphrey Decamp was headmaster of Bourne County Secondary School from 1980-84 after a long teaching career in the town. Prior to that, he had been called up for military service on 16th October 1939, soon after the outbreak of the Second World War, and subsequently served as a technical clerk with the Royal Ordnance Corps. He later saw service in Germany where he was demobilised on 23rd February 1946 by which time he had reached the rank of Warrant Officer First Class and had been Mentioned in Despatches in recognition of gallant and distinguished service in North West Europe.
	His wife, Irene Mary, eldest daughter of the Bourne auctioneer, Tom Lyall, also served in the forces, joining the Women's Royal Air Force at the age of 17 soon after leaving school.
She trained to be an aircraft plotter and was posted to Bath where her work involved receiving messages from radar stations around the country and was subsequently seconded for secret work at Bletchley Park, headquarters of the British code breaking team. After the war, Irene worked as a medical secretary at Peterborough Memorial Hospital and in August 1956, she and Louis were married at the Abbey Church. They later had a son, Tom, and a daughter, Jane. Louis died on 29th September 1999, aged 80, and after a funeral service at the Abbey Church he was cremated at Peterborough. Irene died on 16th January 2003, aged 79.

See also Bourne Academy