Richmond Commu

[RichmondCommu]

Dear all,

Just to let you all know that just over 7 days a go my husband (known to you all as Richmond Commu) lost his long battle with cancer. Richmond Commu is survived by his parents, myself, his two sisters Jaynie and Sue, his children Tim, Tom, Tilly and Florence, and his grand children Max and Mila.

In addition to being a wonderful son, brother, husband, father, grand father and friend to many I'm proud to say that he made a significant and lasting contribution to the three organisations that he worked for. I'm aware that none of you had the opportunity to meet my husband but he was the most amazing and wonderful man and for 25 years I was proud to call him my husband. He was also my hero and my best friend and a very brave man.

My husbands final ambition was to see Christmas 2017 and he did exactly that. Ever since he'd been diagnosed with cancer he had started to write an account of his life and the railways 'bits' will be posted on this forum in the months to come.

We just thought you should know that's all.

Kind regards,

Manjit.

 

[507021]

Manjit,

I am so, so sorry to hear of your loss. Unfortunately, I had limited interaction with your husband in the time I have been a member of these forums, but the ones I did have were very, very positive. I really enjoyed reading his contributions to the forum and I think it's safe to say he will undoubtedly be missed by everyone here.

Thank you for offering to share your husband's accounts of the railways with us, I am sure I and many others will enjoy reading them when you do post them here. Whilst I am still young (24, 25 this April), your husband's documentation of his life has made me think it may be a good idea for me to do the same for my family, as well as for future generation of rail enthusiasts.

My deepest sympathies and thoughts are with you and your husband's family. His contributions here will be sorely missed.

Once again, I am extremely sorry to hear of his passing.

507021.

 

[Ash Bridge]

Manjit,

May I offer you and all your family my very deepest sympathy. As mentioned in the posting above your husband started many interesting threads and we spoke via PM on several occasions, I'll keep my words short but can I just say what a very brave man is your husband to have not given us any inkling of his condition, I have just informed my wife of your loss and our thoughts are with you all at this very sad time,

Steve.

 

[Condor7]

There are certain members on this forum that stick in the mind, because they come across as really nice people and Richmond was one of those. I always made a point of seeing what he had to say and have debated with him from time to time always in a friendly manner.
I think it was my lose we never met, and he will be missed by many on here I am sure.
My deepest condolences to yourself and your family.

 

[LowLevel]

Very sorry for your loss and thanks for letting us know Manjit.

 

[GatwickDepress]

Manjit,

Your husband was one of those members that contributed much more than just posts to this forum. He was lovely to talk to and contributed much to some very interesting discussions, and he will be greatly missed here. My deepest sympathies and thoughts are with you and your family. I'm happy he saw Christmas, as I remember him posting at being overjoyed to meet his granddaughter in Essen.

Thank you for letting us know.

Amira.

 

[ANorthernGuard]

Very Sorry for your loss, my deepest condolences.

 

[yorksrob]

RIP Richmond Commu.

I've spoken with him on this forum on many occasions and like the posters above, have always found him to be a thoroughly nice person, always with something interesting to say. Although I've never met him in person, I will miss him on here.

My condolences to you and your family.

 

[urpert]

This is very sad news indeed. My condolences.

 

[Darandio]

I can only echo what has been said above and send my condolences. I will certainly miss his input on this forum.

 

[Cowley]

Hi Manjit.

Very sad to hear about this this morning.
I’ve had a quite a few chats by pm with your husband over the last couple of years and considered him a good friend even though we’d never actually had a chance to meet in person.
I’m sure we’d all love to read what he’s written when you get a chance to post some of it and if you need any help from any of us just let us know.
I and a lot of others on here will have you and your family in our thoughts today I’m sure.

Nick

 

[Tetchytyke]

Hi Manjit,

I'm so sorry to hear this. My best wishes to all of you. I'll miss him on here, he always had something interesting and intelligent to say.

Please do let us know if there are any charities close to his heart that we can send to in lieu of flowers.

 

[DarloRich]

Manjit,

Firstly my condolences to you and your family at such a terrible time. I am sure that no words we can offer you will help lessen the pain you feel at the loss of your husband. However, hopefully those words can offer you some comfort at such a difficult time.

I am sure that your husband was always a principled and thoughtful poster who added a great deal to any number of debates and despite disagreements from time to time we seemed to hold many views in common. He was always good form and always happy to share his views and experiences on railways and life in general. Although i never had the chance to meet him i am very sad to hear this news and will miss his contributions to this community.

Finally, my dad died on the 2nd of January 2017 and the following words, from a hebrew proverb apparently, offered me great comfort at that difficult time. I leave them here in the hope they might help you:

Say not in grief ‘he is no more’ but in thankfulness that he was

Richard

 

[telstarbox]

Manjit,

I'm very sorry to read this as RC was a thoughtful and intelligent contributor to these pages, and I'm sure he will be sorely missed. As you may have read, he often spoke fondly of you and the others in his family and he seemed to have a very fulfilling life in the "real world".

 

[Cowley]

Manjit,

I'm very sorry to read this as RC was a thoughtful and intelligent contributor to these pages, and I'm sure he will be sorely missed. As you may have read, he often spoke fondly of you and the others in his family and he seemed to have a very fulfilling life in the "real world".

I was thinking this just now. He was so proud of his family and also their achievements. It was heartwarming to read actually.

 

[Sleeper]

Dear Manjit

I’m very sorry to hear this news that you have so bravely posted. I can see there is a huge list of family and close friends who will miss RC keenly. Even remote as we are on this largely anonymous forum, I’m sure there will be dozens here – if not more – who will be saddened that he will no longer be posting. RC’s posts were of high quality, and always worthy of close attention. Please accept my condolences.

 

[tbtc]

Terrible news.

I was thinking of him a few days ago, when on another Midland Mainline thread, wondering what his "tuppence worth" would be, as it was a subject we discussed on a number of occasions (given his Derby connections) - he was someone I'd have been interested to see the opinions of on many subjects though.

He was always worth reading, whether I agreed or not - he was someone who would combine hard headed pragmatism (e.g. on a thread about why HS2 won't stop the north/south divide) and genuine boyish enthusiasm for subjects (Dent being a particular one!), someone who always made a good compelling argument. I wish there were more like him on here, and will miss his thoughtful contributions.

Condolences to the family.

 

[Bletchleyite]

That is really sad to hear. Condolences to you and your family.

He was certainly a respected poster here.

 

[AlterEgo]

Manjit,

What a terrible surprise to read this. As you probably gather he did not tell us about his diagnosis.

He and I often debated here and while we didn’t always agree - sometimes strongly (!) - he was a valued and mature poster who would always post thoughtfully and from a position of respect.

He was justifiably proud of his family, of you, and seemed to consider himself fortunate. He talked about his close family often and with a warmth which is uncommonly found on this forum.

My sincere condolences to you and your family; I am sure you will miss him greatly. I’m pleased to read he managed to fulfil his wish of spending Christmas with the family, and I respect very much the dignity with which he must have borne his illness.

Please do let us know if there is a charity available for donations in lieu of flowers.

His contributions here will be missed.

With sympathy,

Paul

 

[Arglwydd Golau]

Dear Manjit.
i was saddened and shocked to read this news this morning. I am more of a reader than a contributor on the forum these days, and Richmond Commu's post were always amongst the few contributors whose posts I read consistently, both railway and non-railway related issues. He came across as an incredibly decent man, with a great sense of fairness and a genuine belief in equality and justice. As others have said, he was very proud of his family and those strong bonds will I'm sure be invaluable at this time.
It is only a few months since my best friend passed away at a young age and never a day passes without my thoughts returning to him and his wife, also a dear friend...with whom we are in regular contact. I know that the support we have given has helped her bear the pain and sense of loss, and it will be of comfort that you have such a strong family and friends to support you at this time.
with best wishes

Stephen

 

[Bromley boy]

I’m extremely sorry to read this news.

RC was definitely one of the most eloquent posters on here who clearly had a very deep passion for the railway. As others have noted he regularly spoke warmly of his family which was touching to read.

My heartfelt condolences.

 

[Railops]

Very very sad news, Richard always debated sensibly and politely, he will be missed.
My condolences to his family.

 

[anti-pacer]

Manjit

So sorry to hear of your loss. Your husband always had interesting posts and I always remember a connection with Nelson, Lancs. As I spent most of my childhood in Colne it was nice to read some of his posts about that area. I'm guessing he was from Derby by some of what I read, and I also lived in Ilkeston, so felt we had a bit in common there.

I lost my mother to cancer in 2009 so I have an idea of how you must be feeling. If I can offer any words of comfort, it'll be simply that his pain and suffering is no longer.

I'm sure I speak for all of us on this forum, but you'll be in our thoughts.

 

[Minilad]

Manjit.

I drove my train to Nottingham today and as I passed within sight of Pride Park the home of his beloved Derby County I doffed my metaphorical cap in his memory.

Condolences to you and your family

Richard

 

[najaB]

I haven't much to add that hasn't been said already but still feel the need to say something. You and your family will be in my thoughts.

 

[Busaholic]

I almost decided to withdraw from this forum late last year, but it was the thought of not being able to interact with half a dozen people, of whom your husband was most prominent, that dissuaded me. His arguments were always cogent and without bile, and if I'd been asked to name one person on here who I would describe as intelligent and thoroughly nice (and I've never met anyone on here) it would have been him.

My thoughts too are with you and your family.

Tim.

 

[STKKK46]

Long term reader but not much of a prevalent poster. I know a lot of people have said the same but when browsing the forums if I saw the last post was by RichmondCommu on any thread, it’d be the first thread I’d go to.

A respectable member of a fantastic forum.

Will be sorely missed, so sorry to hear of your loss.

 

[Lrd]

Sorry to hear. He was a great contributor to the forum and always had something meaningful and well thought out to say.

 

[Butts]

Manjit,

I can only echo the comments that have already appeared with regard to your husband.

Whilst I didn't always agree with his views, I certainly respected his ability to engage in lively debate on an informed basis.

He will be sadly missed on the forum.

 

[yorkie]

I am so sorry to hear of your loss.

I was meant to meet him at forum events a number of times, most notably on a multi-modal forum race, in which he was due to cycle from Putney to Blackfriars, but things kept cropping up. Of course I just assumed another opportunity would present itself...

He was not afraid to stand up for his beliefs and he won't be forgotten.

...he had started to write an account of his life and the railways 'bits' will be posted on this forum in the months to come....

Yes, please do post these.