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22 Mar 2024 | |
Written by Tina Harvey | |
Obituaries |
Richard will be missed by his family and friends.
We are conscious that some people from the time when Richard was at the School may not be in contact with us and we would ask if you could pass on this information to those that you know.
As is the usual practice, we would like to place an obituary for Richard in the 2023-24 OI Journal and would be very grateful for any stories or memories you may wish to share which we could put together for the publication. Please address any contributions to me through oldipswichians@ipswich.school
Sally Webber
Acting Chairman
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Michael Greenwood
Tim Bowler and I attended the funeral of Richard Moss, who died age 77 on 14 October after a short illness. Strangely, very little was said about Richard during the service itself - perhaps this typified his inherent modesty - but we were able to talk to his son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren after the funeral and share stories of his time with Clerical Medical (in my case I knew Richard from the mid-sixties, when I worked next door to the Clerical Medical office in Ipswich, Suffolk).
Richard was highly regarded in the village of Gilwern, near Abergavenny, where he lived in retirement, as evident from the comments of friends and neighbours and the number attending the parish church - in a rather remote location a mile or two from the village centre along a single-track road and surrounded by farmland. His charming nature, unfailing politeness, being always smartly dressed and the delight he took in the achievements of others are characteristics we ex-Clerics also remember. 'A perfect gentleman' was a common view.
We also learned something we knew almost nothing about. Richard made a significant contribution to the equestrian sport of eventing (dressage, show jumping and cross country), an activity he shared with his late wife during her lifetime. A tribute is on the British Eventing website:
"As a long-standing member of British Eventing, Richard had a true passion for the sport which saw him give much of his time to it tirelessly upon his retirement. Fence judging both at home and abroad at some extremely high-profile events including three consecutive Olympic Games, namely Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012. Richard also supported British Eventing as a Controller for a time but was probably most at home at the Start Box. British Eventing extend their sincere condolences to Richard's family and friends during this difficult time and would also like to acknowledge his valuable support of the sport."
Barry Howard
Richard Moss (and the recently departed Brian Willis) were both thoroughly nice and very genuine people, loved and respected by their staff.
I remember, as Regional Manager, visiting Richard when he was at Cambridge. At that time, I was smoking cigars and I was always greeted with an opened packet of my favourite cigars with a box of matches waiting for me on Richard's desk. After my visits I travelled to Norwich, then a sub-office of Cambridge, and I witnessed the affection for Richard which was shared by the staff there.
I enjoyed my evenings with Richard very much and we always had dinner with his wife, a very nice lady whose hobby/small business was, I think, making theatre costumes.
Latterly Richard moved to National Accounts under John Ward-Brown, a role in which he was as successful as he had been as our Cambridge manager. Richard was one of life's gentleman and he will be missed.
Anne Anderson (Leadbetter)
Richard was definitely one of the "good guys". I got to know him a little when we sponsored the seniors golf and he would join us to present prizes at the regional events. He was always so professional.
Martin Wiggs
I joined Clerical as a pensions business manager in 1983 based at Watford, covering Reading, Cambridge, Chelmsford and Norwich. I was much taken with the immediate warmth of the welcome received from Richard at Cambridge, which was invaluable in getting me started in the Clerical "family". For me, as a mid-career-changer, this was incredibly important and I regarded him as a good friend.
Neil Munro
I was very sad to hear the news of Richard's passing. I joined Richard at the Cambridge office (there was only Richard, myself and Pat the secretary) in December 1979. The branch grew over the following years and was very successful under Richard's leadership. I left to join the West End office in September 1989.
Richard was really my mentor over that decade and although we were different characters we always had a good working relationship. Richard was a true gentleman and totally dedicated to Clerical Medical.
Charles Evans
As many readers will be aware, Richard moved from Cambridge to Bristol when he joined John Ward-Brown and I in the National Accounts team. We worked closely together for some years, became friendly with Richard and Hilary as well as meeting Hugh, (Richard's son) and his wife to be, Sarah, on several occasions.
Richard was a consummate professional, and hugely loyal to Clerical Medical and massively proud to represent the business. He became an IFA after leaving, and was my adviser for a while.
Work Colleagues (Clerical Medical)
Congratulations to ITFC! Another great opportunity to look back to see where it all began - at Ipswich School and four Old Ipswichians! More...