Graham Finch

A Service was held on Wednesday 8th December 2021 for the
THANKSGIVING AND CELEBRATION FOR THE LIFE OF
Graham Wallis Finch 23rd May 1938 – 10th November 2021
Conducted by Pastor Roland Brown
at All Saints Church Woodford Green at 1.30

The following tribute was read by Malcolm Trowbridge

What can anybody say about GRAHAM FINCH, well here is a brief insight into his life:

Before joining Loughton School, Graham had been at a Quaker Boarding school in the Cotswolds after that beginning he must have thought Loughton School was like arriving in UTOPIA

Graham joined Loughton School in 1953, he wasn’t going to be influenced by the likes of Martin Darlington or the Sassoon Brothers Albeit at a young age he was full of enthusiasm, high standards and above all fairness. And this trait followed him all his life. He was a people person and perused this in his professional career by joining John Dickinson & Co Ltd, at that time one of the largest paper makers & converters in the world with a staff of over 10,000 people.

Graham quickly made progress, starting at Head Office in Hemel Hempstead rising to be National Sales Manager and later European Sales Manager, which is no mean feat in a company the size of John Dickinson’s as they were in those days.

During his time at John Dickinson , in 1977 Graham met “the love of his life” and just shortly after that he meet Angela, I am joking you were both the loves of each others lives and in 1978 they married. A very devoted couple who just about did everything together, including lots of travel walking & keeping fit as well as fine dining. Graham was also a Scout Leader at this very church.

When Graham left school he immediately joined both the OLA & OLHC and played an active part in both organisations and was President of the OLA in 2005/2006 and left his mark by bringing the Old Loughtonians Association & the Hockey Club together, which is very much in evidence today.

In 1983, after some year’s of absence I rejoined the OLA and it was at this point that I sought Graham’s wisdom and wealth of experience , we would talk both before and after committee meetings and I can still hear him saying to me “well I thought that went well late night” and during these conversations I have never heard him have a bad word for anybody, never running anyone down, the only light relief may have been a small chuckle when our dear archivist Chris Plant would spend 30 minutes at the end of a meeting pulling items from his ‘Pandora’s box’ of memorabilia which included amongst other things bricks saved from the school with rude words written on them.

These are the true measures of a Man of Principals and a true gentleman that Graham Finch truly was and we will all miss him dreadfully, nobody more-so than Angela.

His motto in life was “to try to keep healthy, fit & active.

It has a privilege to have known Graham and the world is a lesser place for him not being here.

Why Oh why do “THE GOOD GET TAKEN BEFORE THERE TIME”