Page 58 - The Old Ratcliffian 2015 Magazine

58 OBITUARIES
(ALFRED) PETER
REYNOLDS ‘AP46’
OLD RATCLIFFIAN 1945 - 1951
APRIL 9TH 1932 - FEBRUARY 28TH 2015
Peter was born in 1932 in Boston, Lincolnshire, the eldest child of
Alf and Flo, who were well-known grocers and wine merchants in
the town. David (53), his brother, followed five years later.
When the war years arrived, Peter’s parents entertained many of
the bomber pilots stationed close by; one particular young pilot,
Ernest Deverill, became ‘Uncle Dev’ to Peter, whom he looked
up to as a real hero. When Peter started at Grace Dieu in 1942,
Deverill ‘buzzed’ the school and dropped sweets on them from
his Lancaster. Although, unfortunately, he did not survive the
war, Peter was inspired by Deverill for the rest of his life.
Peter enjoyed his years at Grace Dieu, from 1942 to 1945, where
he made an impression from the start. ‘Grace Dieu Notes’ at the
back of the Ratcliffian for that period make specific reference
to his first History exam, in which he explained that ‘Tommy
guns were first used at the Battle of Crecy’. The teaching he
subsequently received obviously had a beneficial effect, as he
won the school’s History Prize in his last year.
His years at Ratcliffe were equally fruitful. He took part in
the school plays, played hockey for the College and was a
contemporary of Mike Harden (50), Gerald Della-Porta (49), and
Martin Middlebrooke (49), to name a few. As there was already
another Peter Reynolds at Ratcliffe, he was given the nickname
‘AP46’, taken from his school number, which his contemporaries
still called him years after they had left.
After successfully completing his School Certificate, and following
a school cycling trip to Ireland (which he still remembered with a
great deal of affection many years later), he joined the RAF to
complete his National Service, finishing in the dental and medical
section of RAF Coningsby.
The Dental Faculty at Guy’s University Hospital was the next
logical step. As an undergraduate, he successfully fine-tuned his
golf game, representing the university; he nurtured his skill at
cards; he courted and married Gill, with Gerald Della-Porta as his
best man; and he and Gill had their first child, Susan. It was then
that he realised that he had better pass his finals! This he did, with
his new wife, Gill, as his live finals patient. As a newly-qualified
dentist with a young family, they soon returned to Boston, where
Peter became a partner in a local surgery with two others, one of
which was Old Ratcliffian Paddy Lynch (39). Two more children,
Caroline and Chris (78), arrived in quick succession.
Peter was a very successful and popular dental surgeon in Boston,
buying out the thriving practice during the 1970s and retiring in
1995, aged 62. During these years, as the family grew, so did his
pastimes. Having gone ‘solo’ whilst on National Service with the
RAF, he took up flying again in the 1970s, and he mostly flew to
Register online at www.ratcliffianassociation.co.uk
and from various racecourses up and down the country! He once
called up Air Traffic Control to ask where he was, to which a droll
reply came: ‘If you don’t know where you are, you shouldn’t be
up there!’
Peter was a talented golfer, and he played from an early age. In
1961, he sat on the committee that built the current Boston Golf
Club, and was elected captain in 1965. In 2004, he was elected
captain of Woodhall Spa Golf Club, which he deemed a great
honour. He played and won many tournaments and, with his wife
Gill, was only very narrowly beaten in the Central England Mixed
Foursomes at Woodhall in 1988. As recently as April 2014, Peter
scored a hole-in-one on the fifth at Woodhall. The following
week, he played what his friends describe as ‘some incredible
golf’, as he got another hole-in-one on the fifth, a two at the
eighth and a three at the twelfth – not bad for a man of 82! He
followed this epic achievement by winning the Seniors Cup at
Woodhall in September 2014 with 36 points (playing off 14).
Peter was so thrilled - he rang all of his family gleefully with the
news that he had beaten someone thirty years his junior!
Always active, Peter was a regular snooker player, being captain of
his team. He was also a bridge Master and played at least weekly.
Other hobbies and interests included painting, the cryptic
crossword, horse racing, birdwatching, and especially music.
Music made up a great part of who Peter was. An accomplished
pianist, we grew up listening to him playing everything from
classical, jazz and swing music, to numbers from musicals and
the Hit Parade. He loved a good voice, too, and numbered Nat
King Cole, Frank Sinatra and the Beatles among his favourites.
Peter also remained very much attached to Ratcliffe, attending
several of the London Dinners with Gill in the last few years. They
travelled to the Paris Reunion in 2009, where they recounted
having a fabulous time, full of laughter, and were especially
looked after by Jackie Bennett.
Peter was a shining example of how to live life to the full, even
more so after suffering a severe illness in 2010, from which he
made a pretty miraculous recovery. He was a larger-than-life
character in many ways, touching many hearts and entertaining
all of us with his dry wit and lovely sense of humour.