Reynolds, Graham

OT 47 - East & Master from Jan 1960 to Jul 1967.

Date of Death: 19/07/2018

Pupil OT 47 East from 1948 to 1954 - Master from January 1960 to July 1967.

Click here to access a special page about Graham where tributes from Old Boys and details of the funeral service are available to read or listen to. 

On Thursday 19 July, Graham Reynolds, a much-loved former pupil and teacher, passed away. Poignantly, it was on the same day as the ’60s Group of Old Boys had their annual summer gathering at The Castle pub in Ottershaw. Although the news of his passing only reached the Society after that event, many of the conversations touched on Graham. Almost immediately, Old Boys began sharing their recollections of Graham. Not surprisingly given his athletic prowess, many people recalled Graham’s crucial role in their sporting achievements. For Khalil Lawry, it was an outstanding performance in the schools country cross country championships. Kevin Harris also described how Graham helped him to excel at athletics. For Pip Mosscrop it was rugby. Peter White, who referred to himself as probably the worst PE pupil Graham had seen, also recalls him with affection. (This is probably the moment for me to mention the time when he told me I was “totally uncoordinated”. I did not mind as it was true! When I light-heartedly recalled this remark while talking to him at an Old Boys’ function about 15 years ago, he seemed mortified, but we then laughed about it. I only met him about twice between that time and the day in August 2014 when I visited him and his wife Janet in Kent in order to interview him for an article in The Gazette.)

Graham’s school role was not limited to sport. He also taught Geography. His methods worked for John Burrow, who to this day “can draw where all the coalfields in the USA are”. Among the tributes to Graham was this priceless recollection from Peter Mackey of how Graham ordered coffee: “Black, with milk”! Khalil Lawry took on the job of collating these tributes and made them available to Graham’s daughter Anita, who kept in touch with the Society concerning the  arrangements for the funeral and related matters.

The funeral took place on 13 August at Hawkinge Crematorium in Folkestone, followed by a reception at Graham’s golf club, Sene Valley Golf Club in Hythe. The following six Old Boys were there: David Tilleard (OT 66), Peter Jones (OT 311), Ewen Summers (OT 702), Malcolm Alison (OT 742), Robin Wills (OT 880) and Paul Zmitrowicz (OT 936). At that gathering David Tilleard presented Graham’s son Danny with a ruler of Graham’s that he had kept since his schooldays. 

Please visit https://www.osobs.com/other/graham-reynolds if you would like to read the tributes from Old Boys, the speeches at the funeral and the articles about Graham in the Autumn 2014 edition of The Gazette.
Stephen Turner