OBITUARIES
ROY STAFFORD 1928-2022
Roy was born in Beckenham and attended Sevenoaks School from 1942 to 1945 . He graduated from Imperial College London with a degree in Electrical Engineering . After National Service with the RAF , he served with the Church Mission Society and moved to Kenya , where he taught Physics at Maseno School . He led a team of Kenyans and Italians to translate the Bible into the Luo language , the second most widely spoken tribal language in Kenya .
He later taught Physics at Ware College , Hertfordshire , before joining the faculty of All Nations Christian College . He travelled widely both teaching and learning with his wife Jan in Africa and Asia at the request of national Christian leaders . Roy was always grateful for the privilege of having been at Sevenoaks and proud of being an Old Sennockian . He passed away peacefully after a long illness at home in Ware .
Jan Stafford
REVD ROBIN KEELEY 1938-2022
John Robin Keeley , a former Head Boy at Sevenoaks , passed away in Australia . He was an ordained priest , a commissioning editor for Lion Hudson publishing and The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge ( SPCK ), and a tutor . Robin was a dearly loved husband to Pauline , father to Bridget and Caroline , stepfather to Christa and Zoe , and a lovely grandad and great-grandad . He was a man full of gentleness and compassion , great wit and humour , a good listener and a wise counsellor .
Pauline Keeley
RICHARD REID 1939-2022
Richard was a renowned urban designer , town planner and architect . He was a member of RIBA and studied architecture at the Northern Polytechnic 1957-63 , and later at the Academia Britannica , Rome , as a Rome Scholar in Architecture . He was also a lecturer and external examiner at numerous architectural schools in the UK , Europe and the USA before setting up in practice in 1987 .
Richard was born in 1939 . He joined Sevenoaks in 1952 , first as a boarder at Park Grange , and later Johnsons , during the headships of James Higgs-Walker and Kim Taylor . When he started at Sevenoaks , the Art department was just a classroom in a corner of Park Grange . Big changes came with Kim Taylor and a group of hugely talented and enthusiastic teachers , including Bob White . New facilities were still years away , but the department was relocated above a Manor House garage and the art students helped Bob White to redecorate . Richard later said , ‘ He didn ’ t just put a few colours in our paint boxes , so to speak , but provided the most profound , enthusiastic and inspirational teaching for a class I was so lucky to be a part of .’
Richard , who was known at school as Dick , lived in Sevenoaks all his life and walked home on many Sunday afternoons with his fellow boarders for tea and cakes at his parents ’ house . His father , Robert , was a war correspondent who famously broadcast de Gaulle ’ s entry into Notre Dame during the liberation of Paris for the BBC . After university Richard travelled extensively throughout Europe and the Middle East , eschewing cameras in preference for drawing and painting the whole way .
148 OLD SENNOCKIANS