Former RNPA member Steve Potten died of pneumonia and other medical complications on Friday 29th of January in Maidstone Hospital, Kent.
Steve, 82, who lived in Snodland, Kent, had been in poor health for most of the past two years.
He joined the Navy in 1956 aged 17, and served for nine and half years. He was a member of No 24 Phot II’s Qualifying Course which included Tony Parsonage, Gordon van Dyke and Ray ‘Scouse’ Marshall under instructor PO David ‘Taff’ Eyres.
Steve was a popular member of the phot section team for the first commission on the newly launched HMS Victorious which, following her seven year £20M rebuild, made her the most upto date aircraft carrier in the world.
After leaving the navy Steve freelanced as a wedding photographer and supplemented his income working in bars before, with partner Cliff Kent, creating a highly successful photographic business operating from the Hackney area of London. A prestigious client list included American multi-national company Estee Lauder.
Steve is survived by wife Linda and her three children from a previous marriage, Nichola, Karen and James, who Steve adopted as youngsters.
The funeral will take place at 10.20 on Wednesday, 3rd March at Medway Crematorium, Chatham.
A more detailed obituary featuring Steve’s navy career will appear in a future edition of the RNPA Newsletter.
Steve is pictured top right with fellow photographers from HMS Victorious, who were meeting up to attend the final Royal
Tournament at Earl’s Court in 1999. They are Bill Porter, top left, Nigel Craft and Steve.…and lower left, Ray Pogson and Pete Thorne on the right.
Sadly, Pete died in 2018 and Bill left us in 2020.