Long-term expat Steve will be remembered by many
ANOTHER of North Cyprus’s long-term expat residents, Steve (Stephen) Pike, has died at the age of 74.
Mr Pike passed away on May 16 at his home in Devon, where friend Edward Casassa said he had been “battling a number of major health problems, with resilience and sharpness of mind”.
Devon-born Mr Pike trained as a teacher in Exeter and first came to Cyprus in about 1977 to work at the secondary school in Akrotiri, where he founded and ran a very active drama group.
From there he went to Thessaloniki, Greece to work for the British Council, and was then posted to Oman, where he met Jac (Jacqueline), his future wife and owner of the house in Karşıyaka which would be their home for many years from the mid-1980s.
After a brief working stint in İstanbul, Mr Pike worked for two universities in North Cyprus, latterly for five years at Gazimağusa’s Eastern Mediterranean University, where he taught English and trained teachers on Cambridge University courses.
His wife passed away in November 2016 and he had been dividing his time between Karşıyaka and Ottery St Mary.
Mr Casassa said: “After retirement he continued and expanded his delight in gardening and experimenting with ‘exotic’ plants — a lot of which did actually survive.
“He will be remembered by many friends in the village, both Turkish Cypriot and expat, and many teaching colleagues and students, for his quiet, gentle manner, great sense of humour and extraordinarily beautiful handwriting — almost calligraphic!”
Mr Pike is survived by his daughter, Sally, granddaughter Emily and his brother, Richard. His funeral will take place at 12.15pm on Thursday at the East Devon Crematorium, Whimple, Exeter.