A man who played in Witney Town Band for 40 years and formed his own orchestra has died aged 101.
John Maclean, known as Jack, played cornet in hundreds of concerts across Witney and became the band’s secretary.
He was born in Johnston, Renfrewshire, and became an apprentice draftsman in 1924. He married Ann Aitken, in 1946 and newlyweds moved to London, where Mr Maclean joined Smiths Industries as an engineer.
Mr Maclean moved to Fettiplace Road in Witney to work as a draftsman designing car heaters in 1958. He retired in the 1970s.
Shortly after his retirement, he joined Witney Town Band and in 1978 formed his own band, the Witney Senior Citizens’ Orchestra, later dropping ‘senior’ to attract younger members.
He retired from the orchestra in 2003 and at the age of 90, he went on a trip to America to visit Arizona and see the locations of Hollywood westerns.
His 100th birthday was marked by a performance from Witney Town Band.
Mr Maclean had three sons, James, Ian and Neil, four grandchildren and one great grandchild, Jack, aged four. His wife died in 1973. He passed away at Witney Community Hospital on January 2 and his fineral took place 11 days later.
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