On the announcement of Ray’s passing, former colleagues and friends emailed their thoughts and comments about their time working with him. Here are just a few.
“Dreadfully sad. I really loved Ray and thought he was quite the sweetest man.”
“I remember Ray best for his unwavering enthusiasm in filching out the right OS maps for me when I used to do my mammoth bicycle jaunts.”
“I haven’t met any one else quite like Ray …. So “young”
“I truly thought he would outlive his 90 year old cousins and still be climbing towers well into his 100s.”
Ray Angel arrived at SMS in early 1990 to join the team that planned the AA mobile data network and stayed through the changes to MDSI and DDS, still calling in to see his old colleagues on a regular basis up until a few weeks ago.
Back in 1990 he was two times retired already, but was happy to work “as and when required.” It turned out that he was invaluable; to quote a former colleague, “he could do a coverage prediction faster than any PC with just about the same accuracy!” Most of us had not realised that Ray was that much older than the rest us, but that did not stop him becoming an absolutely crucial member of David Almond’s “collection of refugees from big companies” that made the project team such a success. His youthful enthusiasm mixed with mature experience and advice given with humility made him instantly popular. He was one of life’s true gentlemen, one of the old school.
Planning a radio network involved a lot of driving around surveying sites, and checking coverage. His female assistant in the early days tells that despite only working with him for a year that she’ll always remember him fondly and told of the day when he sneaked her into the gentlemen's club in Connaught Square when they’d parked illegally and their car got towed. Ray, I’m sure would have found this most amusing.
He wasn’t all work and wireless, Ray had a lifelong interest in aircraft, born out of his RAF days as a National Service technician, supporting the Berlin airlift. He would “talk for Britain” about all things aeronautical and his gardening advice was legendary.
He had a gentle, old fashioned sense of humour and no time for “political correctness”. After accidentally breaking a colleague’s mug at work he bought him a new one from one of his many visits to Duxford Air Show. On the mug was a picture of a half-undressed woman and the inscription “Get them down safely with air traffic control.” That particular colleague still treasures the mug after some 15 years, and will always serve as a reminder of Ray.
To conclude, here are a few more extracts from emails received from friends and colleagues.
“I am so sad to hear of Ray’s passing. He was like a father figure to me when I was at SMS.”
“Ray was one of the really good guys.”
“He was very kind and considerate and a real gentleman.”
“Why is it that the decent folk seem to be the first to depart?”
Before we say our very last farewells to “the RF Angel” there is one burning question that I think all of us need an answer to.
Did he EVER finish that kitchen?
“Dreadfully sad. I really loved Ray and thought he was quite the sweetest man.”
“I remember Ray best for his unwavering enthusiasm in filching out the right OS maps for me when I used to do my mammoth bicycle jaunts.”
“I haven’t met any one else quite like Ray …. So “young”
“I truly thought he would outlive his 90 year old cousins and still be climbing towers well into his 100s.”
Ray Angel arrived at SMS in early 1990 to join the team that planned the AA mobile data network and stayed through the changes to MDSI and DDS, still calling in to see his old colleagues on a regular basis up until a few weeks ago.
Back in 1990 he was two times retired already, but was happy to work “as and when required.” It turned out that he was invaluable; to quote a former colleague, “he could do a coverage prediction faster than any PC with just about the same accuracy!” Most of us had not realised that Ray was that much older than the rest us, but that did not stop him becoming an absolutely crucial member of David Almond’s “collection of refugees from big companies” that made the project team such a success. His youthful enthusiasm mixed with mature experience and advice given with humility made him instantly popular. He was one of life’s true gentlemen, one of the old school.
Planning a radio network involved a lot of driving around surveying sites, and checking coverage. His female assistant in the early days tells that despite only working with him for a year that she’ll always remember him fondly and told of the day when he sneaked her into the gentlemen's club in Connaught Square when they’d parked illegally and their car got towed. Ray, I’m sure would have found this most amusing.
He wasn’t all work and wireless, Ray had a lifelong interest in aircraft, born out of his RAF days as a National Service technician, supporting the Berlin airlift. He would “talk for Britain” about all things aeronautical and his gardening advice was legendary.
He had a gentle, old fashioned sense of humour and no time for “political correctness”. After accidentally breaking a colleague’s mug at work he bought him a new one from one of his many visits to Duxford Air Show. On the mug was a picture of a half-undressed woman and the inscription “Get them down safely with air traffic control.” That particular colleague still treasures the mug after some 15 years, and will always serve as a reminder of Ray.
To conclude, here are a few more extracts from emails received from friends and colleagues.
“I am so sad to hear of Ray’s passing. He was like a father figure to me when I was at SMS.”
“Ray was one of the really good guys.”
“He was very kind and considerate and a real gentleman.”
“Why is it that the decent folk seem to be the first to depart?”
Before we say our very last farewells to “the RF Angel” there is one burning question that I think all of us need an answer to.
Did he EVER finish that kitchen?
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