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John Pearce
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This page was first published in November 2001
John was born in Gillingham and grew up with music as an important part of his life. He sang as a boy soprano and later alto in notable church choirs in the Medway area, including St George's HMS Pembroke, St Mark's Gillingham and Brompton Garrison Church.
In addition to singing alto in the choir at Gillingham Grammar School, he was a timpanist in the school orchestra. After leaving school in 1963, he became a professional session guitarist/vocalist with several very successful groups, mainly recording vocal harmony top ten hits. The drummer/vocalist he worked alongside was none other than Danny Beckett, another second tenor in the choir. In 1968 he made an unusual career transition and joined what was then Kent County Constabulary. He served for thirty years, mainly with the Criminal Investigation Department and in 1982 became a member of Kent Police Male Voice Choir. It was in 1984 that he led the choir's first tour of Germany (of which there have now been many). He is fluent in german and has not only taught the choir lyrics in the language, but also presented choir and Kent Police Band concerts in german. He was the choir's secretary for fourteen busy years and since retirement in 1998 he has continued as a committee member, fulfilling roles as concert manager, website manager and vice chairman.
After retirement from Kent Police, John joined a tour company in Hythe eventually becoming their group sales manager. He now operates independently and is very busy providing group presentations, conducting tours of WWI battlefields, playing bowls with Sue his wife and enjoying the company and fun of his two young grandsons.