In 1948 Lionel Lethbridge stepped into Denstone College as an enthusiastic young teacher. WW2 was now over and Lionel had just married his French wife Denise. Ahead of him would be a family of 3 and a longer life than he could possibly have anticipated
Born in 1918, Lionel grew up on Merseyside in a musical family. He read modern languages and music at Brasenose College, Oxford where, as organ scholar, he formed and directed the college choir.
As a modern language student, he was obliged to spend time overseas. Easter, 1938 found him in Austria, improving his spoken German. Those were troubled times and his landlady encouraged him to keep a low profile. However, Lionel did see Adolf Hitler in a procession of black SS cars when he was touring Austria making speeches for the German Reich.
In the first few weeks of World War 2, Lionel joined the army and was in Le Havre, Normandy, when he met Denise, his future wife. They kept in touch through the war years, where Lionel served in the Intelligence Corps, in field security. After the war, Lionel returned to Oxford to complete his studies and, during a cycling holiday in France, he decided to find the girl he had met in the early war years. The meeting resulted in their marriage in the English Church in Le Havre. They came to Denstone as newly weds in 1948 where he was College organist and Director of Music.
Lionel was a member of the College music staff for 30 years from 1948 – 1978, with 24 of those years as Director of Music. He retired to live in Denstone Village with his late wife, Denise, who also taught music here and he continued to play the church organ in the village until he was in his late 90s. He was a great supporter of the music concerts here until very recently when his health stopped him from being so active. Lionel’s daughter in law, Jenny, brought him up to the College around 18 months ago and couldn’t help but notice how comfortable Lionel seemed to feel at the College.
For nearly 70 years, Lionel has lived in Denstone with his family - teaching and playing music, raising money for charities, inspiring hundreds of students and enriching the village.
This truly remarkable man will be celebrating his 100th Birthday with his family and friends with a tea party in the Denstone Village Hall on Saturday, 5th May.
