Rand, Richard

OT 413

Date of Death: 20/06/2018

Obituary from The Gazette No.68.

We were saddened to learn of the death of Richard Rand (OT 413; West) on 20 June. A service of thanksgiving for his life took place in Silchester, Hampshire, on 20 August, attended by more than 270 people, including OSOBS members Peter Jones, David Howell, David Hibbert, David (Dory) Evans and Jeremy Burbidge. Richard’s wife, Robina, has supplied this account of his life:

Richard was born in Redhill in Surrey and lived in the village of Outwood with his parents and younger sister, Mary, until they moved to Pangbourne, near Reading, in 1957. He attended a local prep school, followed by two years at Reigate Grammar School. Richard went to Ottershaw in 1954 and gained a life-long benefit from the school’s ethos: social responsibility, endeavour, respect for others and, above all, a sense of service. Richard enjoyed his schooldays, becoming
captain of the cricket team, a leading light of the young farmers’ group and making many friends.

After leaving school Richard became articled to a leading firm of accountants in Reading. He had no great desire to become an accountant, but kept going because the articled clerks were encouraged to play sports. (According to David Howell, he continued to play cricket at a level “bordering on county standards”.) He qualified as a Charted Accountant and remained with Ernest Francis all his working life, retiring in 2005 as Senior Partner. Amongst other external commitments he became a Director of the Norland Nursery Training College, a Governor of The Abbey School in Reading and was appointed as a Magistrate to the Reading Bench in 1977.

In January 1967, Richard moved to the village of Silchester, near Reading, with his first wife, Elisabeth, and baby daughter, Rebecca. Three more children were born there – Lucinda, Tim and Abigail. During the 48 years he lived in Silchester, Richard devoted much of his time and energy to village life, as well as playing cricket and hockey. He worked tirelessly for his local church, St. Mary the Virgin, an early 12th century gem, built within the walls of the major Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum. He served as churchwarden for 24 years, was a member of the Deanery and Diocesan Synods (Winchester) and was elected to the General Synod for a five-year term. Elisabeth having left the family home in the early 1980s, Richard married Robina in 1986, whom he had met on the Reading Bench.

They continued to live in Silchester but in 2013, the children having left home, they felt they needed to downsize, either locally or moving to Robina’s home area of Upton-onSevern. Richard opted for Worcestershire. They moved to Naunton in December 2014, a decision Richard never regretted. He should have taken life easy but he soon found outlets for his energy and community spirit. In 2015 he became a driver for Upton Community Care, where he very much enjoyed meeting new and interesting people, and in 2016 became a reader for the Malvern Talking Newspapers for the Blind. In April 2016 he became the sole churchwarden for St Mary’s, Ripple, a daunting task but one he relished. He covered up the fact that his health was not good and was very frustrated by his increasing difficulty in walking and general tiredness. For him, it was good that he died peacefully in his sleep whilst on holiday on the Isle of Barra, where he had so much wanted to go, but he will be very much missed by both his family and friends in Hampshire and Worcestershire.