Dear All,
It is with great sadness I note the passing of Ian Shearin, Thorn Forum member since 2012.
He had just acquired a lovely Thorn Mercury in the last year, had a pro fitting and set off for one of his "bucket list" tours -- JOGLE (John O'Groats to Lands End). He'd also started a blog on Life After 60 where he hoped to share his interests in healthy eating, golf, and of course cycling.
I had been following his tour on Facebook and as so often happens, Life got in the way and it was not till nearly a month had passed that I realized I hadn't seen any updates. Thinking it might be an artifact of Facebook's post update algorithm, I shrugged it off till I checked on his page today and learned the sad news.
It seems he passed away the morning of 26 July. I'm afraid I do not know the details but it occurred while he was on tour, Day 5 of his 30-day challenge. His wake was held on 12 August.
A loving, giving and very generous man, Ian was always helping others. Even during the pandemic when cycling was limited, he used his allotted time and distance to fetch prescriptions for his elderly neighbors and was always concerned about others less fortunate than he. Anyone wishing to make a donation in his name can do so to Southport Soup Kitchen at 75 London Street Southport PR9 OTX. Ian was very passionate about helping and supporting the homeless to the point that every Christmas he presented his family members with a card telling them what we had given the homeless instead of a gift.
Ian was a fun and entertaining person who wrote very well about his adventures, be it hiking to Everest Base Camp or his past efforts to cycle-tour France. He always strove for new personal firsts that challenged him and resulted in Adventures of the best sort and stories that had held listeners captive with suspense and usually ended with a laugh. It is hard to summarize such a full life in just a few words, but I can surely say he was truly beloved by many who will miss him dearly and the world was so much richer for him being in it.
Ian, you will surely be missed. Godspeed and happy Adventures.
Best to all,
Dan.
