Dedicated to the memory of Joel
This site is a tribute to Joel Ilson, who was born in Montreal, Canada on 6 May 1948 and passed away peacefully at home in London, UK on 6 August 2023. He is much loved and will always be remembered.
Joel was a long-standing supporter of Shelter and in lieu of flowers he would appreciate donations towards their work.
About Joel
Joel Allan Ilson was born on 6th May 1948. His parents were Eli and Clara, and he was the second of four children. He had one brother, David, and two sisters, Joan and Linda. He spent his childhood and teenage years in Cote St Luc, a suburb of Montreal, where he attended Wagar High School. Joel attended McGill University, graduating in 1970 with a degree in General Science with a focus on Geology and Economics. While at McGill he took a year off and lived in Israel for a year, which is where he met his first wife Ruth. This led to his eventual move to the UK in 1970. Britain would become his beloved home where he spent the vast majority of the rest of his life.
Joel started his life in the UK working at the Bank of England, but left after five years to become a science teacher with the Inner London Education Authority. He worked in a number of secondary schools in the inner London area and while working at Daneford School in the mid-1980s he met his current partner Anna. Joel and Anna went on to have two children - a daughter Flippanta (born in 1987) and a son Aaron (born in 1991).
Joel spent a number of years working overseas: in Bangladesh (1986-1988), Canada (1993-1994) and Tanzania (1996-1999). On their return from Tanzania in 2000 the family settled in Wanstead, London. Joel returned to teaching and spent the last nine years of his career at Woodside Park International School (now the Dwight School London.)
Although teaching was the main focus of his career, Joel also spent several periods working in various areas of the building trade. He was adept at plumbing, spent a year installing central heating systems and was also a self-taught roofer.
After settling in Wanstead, Joel started attending the Sukkat Shalom Reform Synagogue and became a prominent member of the community there, joining the Synagogue Council and later representing them at the Jewish Board of Deputies. He became very interested in interfaith dialogue and was an enthusiastic speaker at an interfaith forum for a number of years.
When Joel retired from teaching in 2016 he continued to pursue his life-long interests such as music, tennis, languages, DIY and playing the Japanese game Go. He embraced life-long learning and was never without a book and several newspapers to hand. Anna describes him as a Renaissance man who happily picked up other activities from beekeeping to art to maintaining an allotment. His creative flair manifested itself in numerous ways as an artist, carpenter, tailor, musician, raconteur and all-round problem-solver. Many people have felt the impact of his warmth, generosity and never-ending good humour.
Recent Donations
Remembering a sunny afternoon in Clapton when Joel introduced us to the fun of a watermelon-pip spitting contest. Cheryl and Bill McCarthy (Bank of England era)
Joel was a terrific badminton player, will remember fondly our games and the massive buffets afterwards.
Sending sincere condolences to you all
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