Page 4 - Derek Elliott Till

Derek Elliott Till was born in his grandparent's house in Eastleigh, near Southampton, England on
th
November 25 , 1922. He was the only child of Winifred (Elliott) Till and Henry Till. His parents
owned a butcher shop in Woking, Surrey, where Derek grew up. Derek enjoyed helping with the
shop after school and on weekends preparing sausage casing and making deliveries on his
bicycle. Resourceful, clever, and very hard working, they managed to keep the shop open during
the 1930's depression and the years of rationing during World War II and its aftermath.

Derek was a gifted student and completed more years of schooling than typical for his family and
neighbours before joining the British Civil Service in 1938 at age 16. He worked in a mail and
message centre in London near the Houses of Parliament and Downing Street. During the London
Blitz of 1940-41, he volunteered as a "firewatcher" on the roof of his workplace three nights a
week, spotting and dousing incendiary bombs; from that perch he had a striking view of the great
fires burning in east London.

As soon as he was of age, Derek volunteered for the Royal Air Force and was sent to Canada for
training as a pilot of heavy bomber aircraft. Upon return to Britain in 1944, he flew 35 trips into
Germany, mostly night missions, as pilot in command of a Lancaster bomber with
576 Squadron at RAF Elsham Wolds and Fiskerton. Derek was awarded the Distinguished Flying
Cross (DFC) for continuing alone to the night's target after his aircraft was separated from the
stream of bombers, a move that involved great risk. Just before the war in Europe ended, Derek
was sent to India and what was then Burma to support the war in the Pacific. He returned to
England in 1946. Derek enjoyed pointing out that he learned to pilot a heavy bomber before he
learned how to drive a car. Derek left the Royal Air Force with the rank of Flight Lieutenant.

At the conclusion of his RAF pilot training in Canada, Derek had been given leave in New York
City, where he met Mary Berna, a writer from Cleveland, Ohio. They spent evenings dancing to
Benny Goodman and other big bands and sparks flew. After the war, Mary was sent to England by
Fortune Magazine to work on a story; Derek met her on arrival and they were engaged during that
visit. After they were married, Derek entered the University of London. Their son Stephen was
born in London in 1949. Upon completion of his chemistry degree in 1951, Derek, Mary and
Stephen moved to the United States where they settled in Concord, Massachusetts. It was there
that daughter Alison and son Peter were born. Derek thrived for 34 years as a chemist at the
consulting company Arthur D. Little, where he ultimately led the Product Development section.
Derek and Mary created a home full of music and books that was in a constant state of renovation
by Derek. After 46 years of marriage, Mary died in 1993.

Derek was driven by curiosity in all things in life and thrived when applying ingenuity and creativity
to problem solving. In his professional life, his product development projects ranged from food to
paint to plastics. He made major alterations or additions to every home he owned, engaging family
and friends as work crew. He and Mary took particular pleasure in transforming a summer home in
Nantucket into a comfortable and whimsical gathering place for family and friends