Page 54 - The Old Ratcliffian 2015 Magazine

54 OBITUARIES

But before that, there were lots of happy times. In 1966, their He was always delighted to see them, loved talking about them,
first son, Sean, arrived, followed by Charles in 1968 and Jason and was always interested in what they were up to - a proper
some years later. They remember family holidays as children, in grandfather. The icing on the cake was the recent arrival of a
Spain (Dorothy loved the sun), in a caravan at Broad Haven, and great granddaughter, Olivia Grace. When she came to see Mike
on the Llangollen Canal. Later on, Mike and Dorothy enjoyed in hospital, he was so very pleased, and his face lit up. And so the
playing golf together at the Whitehall Golf Club near Abercynon. cycle of family life goes on.
Mike was never a man for haute cuisine; his daughters-in-law,
Viv and Amanda, remember how, at Sunday dinners, his plea was Well, Mike, it has been a privilege knowing such a thoroughly
always ‘not too much’. It is a measure of the affection with which decent, caring and hardworking man, and I know that your
they regarded Mike that Viv and Amanda, with Sean and Charles example will inspire the rest of the family for many years to come.
working abroad, stepped up to the mark and did so much to care
for Mike in his final years. Eulogy
(Mike was the older brother of Neil Stokes, who died in 2013)
In due time, and to his utter delight, Mike was presented with
grandchildren: Emma and Chloe, and Rhiannon and Hannah.

JOHN BERNARD RICHARDSON

OLD RATCLIFFIAN 1946 - 1952
JUNE 11TH 1934 - FEBRUARY 1ST 2012

John Bernard Richardson was educated them, he travelled extensively in Europe,
at both Grace Dieu and Ratcliffe. He was and a little outside, visiting Canada,
called up for his National Service in 1953 Australia, South Africa and the USA. He
and served for two years, before going took early retirement in 1995, after which,
to Christ’s College, Cambridge, where he he became a member of the University of
read Natural Sciences. the Third Age, and wrote and maintained
HTML webpages for, amongst others, the
John returned to Coventry for a short St Philip Howard Roman Catholic Church
while, before moving to Cambridge in Cambridge.
permanently in 1960, taking a post with
Pye Telecom, whose main business was John leaves a widow, five children and
mobile two-way radio. He stayed with two step-children.
them through various name changes,
after they were taken over by the Dutch Peter Richardson
multinational, Philips. During his time with Son

CHRISTOPHER MORRIS

OLD RATCLIFFIAN 1954 - 1958
APRIL 28TH 1942 - MARCH 11TH 2015

On 28th April, which would have been his 73rd birthday, a Requiem Mass was celebrated
for Christopher Morris at his favourite church, the Brompton Oratory, in London. The
setting of the mass was Mozart’s Requiem Mass in D minor, with full choir and orchestra.
An estimated four hundred attended the Mass at the Oratory to pay their last respects
to Chris, followed by a buffet luncheon at the Garrick Club near Covent Garden, of
which he was a well-known member. Old Ratcliffians John Hearson (60) and Brian Coe
(58) were both present; they knew Chris well and met frequently in the early years after
leaving Ratcliffe. Chris was John’s best man at the marriage to his wife, Lyn, in 1967, and
later became godfather to their son, Daniel. Another related connection with Ratcliffe
was that he was a cousin of Mark Galliano (60).

Chris had a distinguished career as a chartered accountant and, after qualifying,
recognised a ‘niche’ for specialist liquidation and insolvency practitioners. He achieved
recognition as one of the country’s leading insolvency accountants, heading the
Insolvency Department as a Senior Partner of Deloitte and, later, as a Senior Partner and
Consultant of Begbies Traynor.

Register online at www.ratcliffianassociation.co.uk