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Roger Emilio Anthony George Arthur William Ernest Borg Myatt
R.I.P
28.12.1945 – 18.02.2008
Roger Borg-Myatt
Keith Middleton Writes:
Roger, of Swale Circle, died “in harness” as President of Swale Circle on 18 February 2008. He was aged 62 when he suddenly died with unexpected heart problems.
Roger was born in Pawla, Malta, the second eldest of 6 boys and a girl.
He was a very lively, very inventive with an enquiring mind, adventurous, brave and courageous boy. There weren’t any “no go areas” for him. He loved science as a boy and carried out experiments he learnt at school. Returning from his doctrine lessons in the evening, he would sneak into the local bookshop and sit quietly in a corner reading comics. He turned out to be a bookworm! Roger came from a close knit family where he invented a nickname for each brother and sister. He was a talented footballer and played on the left wing (in the days when there were left wingers!) He was an altar boy and regularly served at the 6 o’clock morning mass. Generous to a fault, when he returned home from the Seminary, where he received his secondary education, he used to give to his brothers in turn the remainder of his daily pocket money which would amount to one or two old pennies. During his teenage years he travelled extensively to the Maltese islands, retaining vivid memories of the geography of Malta and a fluency in the Maltese language which he never lost.
Initially, Roger wanted to travel to Australia, but his father objected and allowed him to travel “only” to England as Roger’s aunt lived in Reading.
Roger left Malta in September 1963 and flew on a Super Constellation aircraft taking 7 hours to reach Luton via Nice. He arrived in London aged 17 years and 9 months with £11 in his pocket and quickly found that the streets were not paved with gold. He started work for the Post Office in Hammersmith as an accounts clerk working “one month in hand”. His £11 ran out after the third week so Roger lived on rice and oxo cubes until the first pay packet arrived. In the evenings he worked at Joe Lyons corner house in Charring Cross as a washer-upper, mainly because there was a free meal with the job.
After working for the Post Office for some few years he met his future wife, Hazel, in 1965 at Hazel’s New Years Eve party as he had been playing in the same soccer team as Hazel’s brother. They became engaged a year later and married in September 1967 at the Sacred Heart Church in Sittingbourne. The Honeymoon was spent in Malta where Hazel faced the daunting prospect of meeting Roger’s family and friends who had to speak English so that they could communicate.
Meanwhile, Roger left the Post Office and joined British Rail, initially as a booking office clerk in the Medway Towns. He became a relief clerk in 1974 travelling around the South East where he made many friends who remained loyal to him for many years. Eventually he became an auditor for British Rail in the South East and London in the booking clerk area of their operations. After a spell as a wages clerk for British Rail South East he accepted redundancy in the late 1980’s. “Head-hunted” by Schlumberger where he worked as an auditor within the company, he eventually became data centre manager with responsibility for disaster recovery and maintaining records on an up-to-date basis. He remained at Schlumberger for some 10 years until he retired aged 59 in 2006.
As a keen and talented soccer player in the Sunday leagues, Roger had a trial with Queens Park Rangers and continued to train with the Sittingbourne semi-professional team when he moved from London to Sittingbourne. He was an avid and knowledgeable collector of coins but, says Hazel, he never got round to sorting out his collection before he died. An enthusiastic maker of wine at home, he won the Womansworld Village (near Canterbury) Red Fruit Wine competition for three consecutive years. The locals then changed the rules so that only those living within the village could enter the competition. He had a keen mind as a reader of history, Charles Dickens and astrology. He was fluent in English, Maltese, Italian and French and could understand Arabic, Spanish and Portuguese.
Roger’s contribution to parish life was enormous. After a few years as a Catechist for First Holy Communion children at non-Catholic schools, in 2002 he graduated to become Confirmation Catechist which involved 2 hours “tuition” (with lots of earlier preparation) each Wednesday evening with youngsters in the parish, culminating in a weekend retreat at Whitstable. He found working with young people hugely satisfying and this kept him young.
Roger was one of the “three tenors” at the Sacred Heart Church in Sittingbourne 11 o’clock Sunday Mass. He combined this duty with providing transport for three elderly ladies whom he brought to church each Sunday. He felt it was his duty to transport others less fortunate to church and his duty to teach confirmation candidates. However, he was never pompous but always cheerfully enthusiastic in all that he tackled.
Roger joined the Catenians in 1999 and after a spell as Covenant Officer and Vice President he became President during which he enjoyed an outstanding year in office. Roger was a gentleman, optimistic and positive in life, an exemplary husband, father and grandfather but underlying it all he showed great humility. He really was “Mr Nice Guy”.
We offer our sincere sympathy and love to Hazel and his children Nicola, Andrew and Luisa, his brothers and sister in Malta and the United States, of whom he was so proud.
May he rest in peace.
All Is Well
Death is nothing at all,
I have only slipped into the next room
I am I and you are you
whatever we were to each other, that we are still.
Call me by my old familiar name,
Speak to me in the easy way which you always used
put no difference in your tone,
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was,
Let it be spoken without effect, without the trace of shadow on it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It the same as it ever was, there is unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
I am waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near,
Just around the corner.
All is well.
Nothing is past, nothing is lost
One Brief moment and all will be as it was before
How we shall laugh at the trouble of
parting when we meet again!
