20th May 1920 to 21st May 2009

For those of you who do not know Ray, he was the Tower Captain of both Roundhay and Collingham near Leeds. If you didn’t know about him, he certainly knew about you, being an avid reader of The Ringing World. It was typical of Ray’s tenacity and never give up attitude that he celebrated his 89th Birthday shortly before his death. Even after his stroke in 1998, he still came up the tower and rang briefly.

Ray came to ringing relatively late in life, following his daughter, Judi’s, own introduction in the late 1960s. Taught by George Hartley at Thorner, he in turn was able to teach many generations of youngsters. Ray was very practical, and ‘twinned’ his towers with each other for joint practices to bolster attendance and share learning - later ‘twinning’ also with Kirk Deighton, Knaresborough and Bramham.

Ray’s chosen career was as a draughtsman and Civil Engineering Assistant with John H. Haiste, where he met his wife Kathleen. During WWII, Ray served with distinction in the battles of Dunkirk and El Alamein, as well as in Egypt, Palestine, Levant and Italy.

Ray will be sadly missed by all who knew him.

Peter Oldfield