Friends and colleagues have paid tribute to Mick Minster, who died last week. With a track record of more than 40 years in the print industry, he was known for his engineering knowledge, especially in screen printing machinery.
He worked for M&R Screen Print Equipment as an international service technician for well over 30 years. He installed and repaired machinery in countries across the globe.
Dave Roper, managing director of Screen Print World, supplier of M&R screen printing presses, has written this tribute to his friend and colleague:
Where do you start? I met Mick in 1988. This little cheeky chirpy chappy appeared in my printshop to install the latest Advance T-shirt printing press we had bought from the USA. From that day onwards we became good friends.
Mick was a character who always had a smile or bad joke for you just to cheer you up. He was at his most happy in his natural environment installing a press, sat on top with supersize drink in one hand and spanner in the other. He would be either plugged into his house music or helping another customer out on the phone. He was just that type of guy. In fact he made his own stickers to put on the machines he installed which said “Mick Minster”, his telephone number and then the word “Anytime” – he meant that you could call him anytime, and many did.
Over my last 35 years in the industry I was fortunate enough to carry on working with Mick and I recall one of the many trade shows we did with M&R in Europe. I turned up to the show a day early to help with install and couldn’t find our booth in the chaos of a large trade show. As I walked into this huge hall, Mick glided past in his shorts on his roller blades, Bluetooth speaker blasting out house music, back-pack on with the trademark ponytail flowing in the wind, yelling, “Follow me!”
Mick wasn’t just about the print industry. He leaves a loving family in Jane and Linton. He was a talented photographer, loved all music and played harmonica. He taught hundreds of kids to skate. His other passion was motorbikes and he loved his two dogs which he would walk regularly in Camberley.
Mick sent me this once and I think it sums up his life and the person he was:
If you think about it, it won’t happen.
If you worry about it, it doesn’t get better.
If you fix it with the tools available, you have achieved something.
So, get your finger out, head out of the sand, don’t hide behind excuses, and get on with it.
Life is short so be true to yourself.
You will be missed and never forgotten my friend.
