Richard Bonnie 2nd April 1950 – 29th March 2025 †
Richard was born on 2nd April 1950. He was the younger brother to Liz and the family lived in Sussex as he grew up. Richard and Liz had an upbringing characterised by parental love, a devoted grandmother, but with the devastating loss of their mother when Richard was only 9 years old.
Richard attended Brighton College Junior and Senior Schools and was always grateful for his education, although he said he had a chequered academic career. His love was of practical and mechanical things and there was little he was unable to fix, hence his desire for a life in engineering and qualifications to go with it.
Richard met Sue when he was 18 and Sue was 16. Richard asked Sue’s brother (Richard Pickett, also at Brighton College) to bring his sister and some friends from Brighton and Hove High School to his 18th birthday party. Then followed their student/college/university years and they were married in August 1975.
Professional life for Richard began in 1969 with him joining Rolls Royce. He enjoyed working at Rolls so much that he was able to extend his apprenticeship. He learnt trade skills but probably more importantly for his subsequent career learnt the reliance any organisation has on its people and became a shrewd judge of what was really happening on the factory floor.
Richard made good progress at Rolls and left as a Management Training Officer in 1980 to join Strachan and Henshaw (now part of Babcock). He enjoyed the scale and variety of work there until 1989, when he joined British Aerospace Hamble as Director of Personnel, Training and Site Services as well as being Company Secretary.
His career in Personnel, was always in Engineering companies. From Aerospace and John Crane Lipps, Richard moved to Westlands Engineering in Yeovil and from there to A & P, travelling to different dockyards around the country. He retired in 2010.
After he retired, Richard and Sue lived in Dorset and later Devon, where he became involved in so many voluntary tasks with the local church and village communities. He served as Secretary and Treasurer to the Parochial Church Council in the parish churches in which they worshipped. He carried the ‘job titles’ lightly, yet performed various duties with the same sense of responsibility. He made excellent use of his previous professional experience, enjoying the ecclesiastical projects, if not the frequently lengthy and frustrating rigmarole that went along with bringing them to fruition!
All of the tributes made about Richard reflect well on the person he was, his kindness, professionalism, integrity, fairness, insight, decency and unique ability to guide and hold up a mirror to help and let each individual think they had solved the problem themselves! He was a true and great friend to many with whom he worked and he was described as being the epitome of a fantastic Personnel professional.
Richard had a gift of seeing things for what they are – true realism, perhaps – yet the ability to look 360 degrees round a difficult situation and seek out the most positive options or outcome. He was a man of ideas – an innovator – who used his gifts to bring people together. For Richard, reaching out - in particular to those who were lonely - and building community was key. For all his ‘doings’ for others, he demonstrated true humility, not wishing for any recognition or reward.
Having undergone major surgery in August 2024, the future looked hopeful, but the prognosis the following month, was, in Richard’s words, ‘brutal’. Richard outlived his short prognosis by a few months – a sign of his inner strength and his love of all those he wanted to protect. He fought hard, demonstrating great determination and fortitude throughout, particularly over the last four months. Richard did not complain or express bitterness about his failing health, but there was sadness and understandable anger that he did not have more time to spend with Sue, enjoying their special life together.
One of the quotes Richard often used was “If you were at a large gathering of people and everyone had put their troubles into a rucksack and put the sack in the middle of the room, you’d be pretty keen to get your own bag back.“
Even before Christmas 2024, having received his terminal diagnosis in September, he was asked if he would still be keen to get his own bag back, He didn’t hesitate for a second..... ‘Yes’ he said.
Richard was a great planner and organisation was his forte. True to form, he planned his funeral, held on 24th April last year, with great care. One of his favourite hymns was ‘The Servant King'. The words convey so much about him as a person and of his faith in God. Richard certainly served others during his life time, family, friends, neighbours and strangers. Richard had a strong faith, yet went about practising it quietly, as he did most things.
As Richard deteriorated, he was cared for at home by Sue, supported by the local Hospice Care Team. Early in the morning of Saturday, 29th March 2025, Richard slipped away peacefully, with Sue holding his hand.
In the many cards and letters of condolence since his death, some words keep recurring: Love, patience, kindness, generosity, thoughtfulness, goodness, compassion, gentleness, faithfulness, selflessness, humility. Richard is so greatly missed.