Former art master of Helston Grammar School dies aged 94.

George Joseph Philip Howells passed away on April 2 after a short illness at the Royal United hospital in Bath aged 94. Phil was born at West Hanningfield, Chelmsford, Essex in 1922 and was educated at Brentwood school. His first job was working in the Marine Department of the Union-Castle Mail Steamship Company, both in London and Glasgow.

While in Scotland he did his army training with the Seaforth Highlanders at Wick, Caithness, before serving with REMY (Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers), first in this country and then overseas in Algeria and Italy. A passage from Phil's own personal family history reads: "In 1944, I witnessed people of Naples die of bombing and starvation. Saw Vesuvius erupting violently, a thunder and lightening storm and anti-aircraft fire directed at German planes all at the same time."

In 1945 he passed his interpreter's exam in Rome. Later with 13 Corps, he took part in the River Po campaign. Afterwards Phil joined the 8th Army Interpreters Pool (German) at Florence. He was then sent to Austria where the fighting between Communist Yugoslavs and the German Army continued.

He then became interpreter at two prisoner of war camps in 1946 and became commandant of the last one Federaun Civilian Internment Camp for Waffen-SS and middle-management Nazi Party women.

1948-49 saw Phil working in Vienna as chief clerk for the British Public Relations Office where he married his first wife Lilo (Barroness Liselotte Gerda Maria Michaela Amelia Tisljar von Lentulis). The couple then moved back to England where Phil obtained his teacher's certificate on the emergency training scheme for service personnel at Wymondham College, Norfolk. He taught briefly at his old Brentwood school and then at Southchurch Hall High Scool for boys in Southend-on-Sea. The marriage didn't last and his wife returned to Austria.

Phil left his job in Essex in 1955 and studied for a National Diploma of Art at the Falmouth School of Art. It was during this period that he met his second wife Anne Maude Nixon as she was the ex-wife of the art school principle Jack Chalker, and they married in 1959.

On finishing at art school Phil took on two part time posts, one at Helston Grammar School and the other at Redruth School of Art, then he became full time at Helston. He taught many successful students, amongst them the artist David Hosking and jewellery designer Guy Royale, and he was always delighted to hear news of his former pupils. Phil went on teaching at Helston School when it became a comprehensive in 1972 and retired in 1980 shortly after the death of his wife Anne in 1978.

Phil then moved from Trevenen Bal to Falmouth for his retirement where he continued to paint up to the age of 90. He took a great interest in life, travelling quite a bit and researching his family tree extensively for years.

For the last four years he was cared for by his daughter Rebecca at her home in Bath. Philip is survived, and will be sadly missed, by his daughter Rebecca Pascoe, son-in-law Colin Pascoe, grandsons Huw and Malcolm Pascoe and stepson Guy Chalker-Howells.