Dr Roy Whitlock, a ‘father figure’ at Moorlands School for 30 years

Dr Whitlock, who was 92, was a brilliant educationalist held in awe by students during his 30 years as principal of the independent school in Leagrave High Street.

He joined the fee-paying establishment as head in 1953 following the retirement of Miss Iris Spencer and maintained its impressive record of academic achievement.

Dr Whitlock once told a Luton News reporter: “We teach our children to be good citizens in the society they enter when they leave here.

“They may not be intellectually brilliant, but they all have loyalty, good manners, speak decently and know right from wrong.

“They work hard and play hard and do their best.”

Moorlands was established in King Street, Luton, in 1891 and later moved to Dunstable Road. The school, now called Barnfield Moorlands Free School, transferred to its present Leagrave Hall premises – a Victorian mansion built by Sir Edmund Filmer in 1850 – in 1958.

Dr Whitlock remained the ‘father figure’ there until he retired to Bexhill-on-Sea in Sussex in the early 1980s.

A keen cricket fan, Dr Whitlock was still contributing to the Luton News readers’ letters pages until shortly before his death on August 30.

His funeral service will be held at Eastbourne Crematorium on Monday, September 16 at 10.45am. Donations may be made to support the work of St John Ambulance. Call Mummery Funeral Directors on 01424 730418.