Bill Swan obituary

My father, Bill Swan, who has died aged 89, worked on skyscrapers as an engineer in 1960s Toronto and later pioneered jet washers for commercial use.

His career reflected the upheavals of the 20th century. Born in Howdon, Tyneside, he left school at 14, in 1941, and became an apprentice boilermaker at the Wallsend Slipway, one of the great shipyards of the Tyne. His father, Joe, also a boilermaker, died of tuberculosis the same year, leaving Bill with his mother, Nancy (nee Corbett), and two sisters.