In Memoriam - TrustNews Dec 17
Harvey Cole
Part of an address given by Michael Carden when asked to join others to make a tribute to Harvey Cole at a Commemoration in his honour given by the County Council in the Great HalI on 11th October 2017.
The City of Winchester Trust valued Harvey as our most expert of professional advisors. As a member of the Trust he helped us both before, during and after his membership of our Council, which ran for very nearly 20 years from 1988 to 2007.
During the years when we saw Harvey at our monthly meetings, we knew him as a sage and attentive guru on the subject of any complex problem from our own finances to matters of law, government, housing and, above all, retail - especially when we disagreed with the official shopping capacity proposals for Silver Hill. For a busy man with so many other commitments, which included County and City councillor, chair of the Pensions Committee for HCC and even its Leader for a while, he was invariably generous and relaxed with his time. His verbal explanations were masterpieces of reasoned clarity - the equal of any QC. He made things plain and understandable - though few of us could remember the details for much more than 5 minutes!
Otherwise one knew him personally as a kind, erudite and friendly soul who, together with his wife Sonia, were charming hosts. And of course, he was widely known for his letters in the major newspapers; readers of the magazine Prospect always enjoyed his column called the “Numbers Game” that wittily debunked fallacious news items or opened one's eyes to surprising truths. I wish l could end by reading a whole example to you, but must confine myself to a brief excerpt at the end of one typical article entitled “Crime Busting":
“Be prepared for media indignation at a big increase in reported murders last year But remember that this will be due to the inclusion of all 275 of Harold Shipman‘s victims in the figures for a single year, instead of spreading them over 25 years at an annual rate of 9. "
Peter Radcliffe
The Trustees, along with very many others, deeply regret the death of Peter Radcliffe, a member for nearly 30 years and our Honorary Treasurer for 14, until two years ago when he retired from the post because of ill health. We greatly valued not only his very efficient management of the Trust’s finances and his chairmanship of our indispensable Finance & Resources Committee, but also his presence at meetings when he frequently gave us sage advice on a number of tricky questions and took a strong personal interest in such time-consuming things as the selection of our Christmas cards. Moreover, we owe it to their friendship that Judith Rich agreed to take on our previously somewhat chaotic membership affairs! His manner was always quiet and unassuming but with underlying authority, and invariable good manners, not infrequently spiced with his engaging dry sense of humour. It is typical of Peter that when he became aware of his ill health he set in motion his retirement as Treasurer and the smooth engagement of his successor.
We were very fortunate to have lured Peter to work with us in the first place, when he already had important roles with St Cross Hospital, the Cathedral and St Swithun's School. We shall all miss him and have expressed our sympathy and condolences to his wife Judith, who not only supported him but the Trust.