June 2010
Jeff Keller :
Ian first joined the Massachusetts South Shore Woodturners in June of 2006. Since he lived in Acushnet down by Rhode island, attending a meeting involved a long drive. Ian was a prolific turner with much of his early work featuring segmentation in various forms and patterns. He was a frequent presenter at meetings demonstrating the turning and construction of various projects in addition to tutorials on the use of the skew and other turning tools. We were a smaller group back then and when we did shows at Cohasset, the Daniel Webster estate and the Massachusetts South Shore Audubon Society in Marshfield, Ian was a frequent demonstrator and exhibitor. He turned a lot of tops. In later years he was a founding member of the Gateway Woodturners club in Raynham. For his frequent contributions to MSSW he was awarded a lifetime membership in January 2023 by Joe Centorino.
Bob Scott:
Ian was a wonderful person and a very talented turner. He freely shared his knowledge with anyone who asked and worked tirelessly on club events and organization.
Ian was very intelligent. Although he seemed to live a simple man’s life, I’m sure he could have chosen any field or profession to work in and he would have greatly succeeded.
Ian impacted so many around him.
Many of us in the club had the joy of learning from Ian early on during our woodturning “careers”. When I was new to the club, Ian graciously invited me to his shop for some instruction on bowl turning. I turned my second and third bowl under Ian’s careful eye, and to this day they are still my favorite turning’s.
For work, Ian chose to be blue collar. Not because it’s easy, but because it’s difficult. Being “blue collar” myself, I always made it a point to ask him about his work. What sticks in my mind when I think of Ian is how selfless and caring he was in his job. He never bragged when he told me stories of helping poorer people with their plumbing/heating issues. On more than one occasion Ian was heading to the rescue of freezing pipes.
Think for a moment about how important clean water, sewer and heat are to our lives. To our life expectancy. To the growth of human societies. Think of all the people, we will never know, whom Ian has touched through his craft. The man certainly left his “mark”.
Historically a “Mark” is symbol used to identify work as your own. In ancient times, Masons would chisel their “Mark” or symbol into the stones they shaped. This “Mark” was used to verify an individual workman’s pieces so they may be paid properly.
The greatest advancements in plumbing were during the Roman expansion. The aqueducts which carried clean water to the city fountains were built by masons who undoubtedly left a literal “Mark” on the structure.
Ian certainly left his Mark upon my heart and in my memory. It has been an honor to call Ian a friend.
Till we meet again,
Bob Scott