Obituaries O to T

RAYMOND RAND

Died on 4th December 2001 at the age of 84. Frnak Glyn-Jones wrote this dedication:

 
In July 1994 Raymond had suffered a major stroke whilst on holiday in Canada which seriously incapacitated him for the next seven years. He bore his cross with great patience and courage and was wonderfully looked after by his wife, Barbara. Raymond was President of Eastbourne Circle in 1983/4. Brothers recall him as a dapper man, always neat and well dressed, with a friendly face, always smiling. He was generous, loving, courteous, a perfect English gentleman with great good humour, in fact a beacon to his friends and family. Raymond was born in Surbiton in February 1917, the youngest of three. He was educated at Shrewsbury House and Cranleigh School before going to Switzerland in 1935 to learn German. It was in Zug that he learned to ski, a sport he developed during his time in Lausanne, training at the world famous hotel school.

He returned to the UK in 1938 where his first job at 21 was on the reception desk at the Mayfair Hotel, London. It was here that he met Barbara, a junior housekeeper, whom he married eight years later. Raymond moved to the Berkeley Hotel before being called up at the outbreak of war. He joined the 56th  Heavy Regiment of the Royal Artillery, firstly at Aldershot, then Bexhill, Alfriston and Cuckfield Park. Subsequently he served overseas in North Africa, Italy including the battle of Cassino, and Holland. He rose to the rank of major and adjutant where one of his gunners was Spike Milligan. Brothers recall him telling many stories about Spike although at the time Raymond probably wished that Spike was part of a different company. Spike mentioned Raymond in one of his books. After the war Raymond joined Whitehall Court Limited as house manager - the first serviced apartments in London, overlooking
the Thames, now the Royal Horseguards Hotel. He was to stay with that company from age 29 until he retired.

In 1950 he was promoted to manager of the 170 bedroom 4 star Burlington Hotel in Eastbourne. At 33 and taking over from a 73 year old who had held the position for years, this was considered what would be called “a challenge”. T h e Burlington where the family grew up, was to be the foundation of Raymond’s working life. “Living over the shop” brought a 7 day week commitment. Customers in those days only wanted to talk to the “Manager”. Eventually he was appointed Managing Director of the owning company, Myddleton Hotels, where he had responsibility for hotels in London, York, Bath, Hove, Oxford, the New Forest, Bournemouth and Eastbourne. His outside interests centred round his family and the church.

He was a convert to the Catholic Church in 1975, having been brought up a  Christian Scientist and soon became heavily involved in Our Lady of Ransom Parish. He was on the Committee, and subsequently Chairman, of the Catholic Chaplaincy Association at the University of Sussex. In recognition of his tireless work for the Chaplaincy Association and the parish, he was appointed Knight of St Gregory on the recommendation of the Diocesan Bishop -
now Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor. Following retirement in 1979, he was able to indulge in his two favourite pastimes - gardening and traveling. Regular holidays to France were interspersed with trips to Africa, India and Canada.