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Concordia Winter 2024 Obituaries

Tony Randall (1951–1956)

T ony and I arrived at Merchant Taylors’ in September 1951. Our first meeting, unfortunately for me, took place in the boxing ring. I could not know then that Tony would later become the school’s Captain of Boxing, and during the few painful minutes our bout lasted, it did not occur to me that we were at the start of a friendship that would last for 73 years. On the face of it, we had little in common. Tony was a boarder; I was a day boy. Tony was an historian; I was a modern linguist. Tony was a fine athlete, excelling at rugby and boxing; my sports were cricket and fives. Despite these differences, we shared many interests, were easy in each other’s company, and became ever closer as we progressed up the school. In September 1956, Tony became Head Monitor, and although I would leave the school in December that year, I had one term as Second Monitor, so effectively Tony’s deputy. That term was the happiest time in my school life because Tony was an exceptional Head Monitor, having a clear vision of how he wanted the school to be and with the drive and charisma to make things happen. On leaving Merchant Taylors’ Tony did his National Service in East Africa as an officer in the Somaliland Scouts, returning in 1960 to take up employment with the Vestey Group, where for a while he was Personal Assistant to the Group Director. By chance, Tony’s office in West Smithfield was a few hundred yards from my own place of work, so we were able to meet frequently, mostly on licenced premises. Soon we decided to share a flat together in Highgate. Tony had a wide circle of friends and proved himself to be an excellent party giver as we tried to play our part on the ‘swinging sixties’. In 1963 the Vestey Group transferred Tony to Hong Kong and for the following two years he was Assistant General Manager of their Hong Kong Refrigerating Company and met his future wife, Leila. Tony returned to London in 1965 and again we shared a flat. For a while Tony suffered from ill health, but his recovery coincided with Leila’s arrival in London, and before long they were married. I had the honour of being Tony’s Best Man and a frequent visitor to their new home. For a couple of years,

Tony worked for 3M Ltd in London — a part of his career I suspect he did not enjoy — but then in 1970, Tony and Leila moved to Brussels. There, Tony joined Management Centre Europe, organising management training events and conferences for many leading international companies. Tony enjoyed living in Belgium and his work enabled him to meet many of the most prominent businessmen of the day, but after almost a decade in Brussels, Tony, Leila and their four children moved to Australia – Leila’s native country. Tony was to spend the remainder of his life in Sydney. He secured a senior role with Management Frontiers and travelled extensively, taking top Australian and North American business leaders on study tours to Europe to visit eminent European companies. These tours were extremely demanding but Tony brought to them many of the skills which had made him a fine Head Monitor. Nevertheless he would sometimes come and stay with us after a study tour, exhausted and in need of rest and relaxation. After his working life ended, and following Leila’s untimely death, Tony remained in Sydney, but I never felt he was a lonely man. He was wonderfully close to his four children and had a wide circle of friends including many OMTs. Tony was an exceptional networker, retaining contact with friends from school days, from his National Service, from his time in Hong Kong and from his professional life in Britain, Belgium and Australia. I shudder to think what his telephone bills would have been like. I am sure many readers will remember receiving what Tony would say was “a quick call” but which would last anything up to an hour. Tony made his final visit to England in 2023, catching up with dozens of friends. Our last meeting was a very happy day spent in a country pub, reflecting on our friendship and the good times we enjoyed together. In failing health at the end of his life, living in a retirement home, Tony would still stay in touch. He never forgot my birthday, but the ‘quick calls’ would now last only 15 minutes. I guess there are many other OMTs with whom Tony remained in contact, and who will remember him now, as I do, with

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great affection and respect. Henry Amar (1951–1956)

Obituaries

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