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Family and mayor pay tribute to former Lymington town councillor and teacher Richard Gray following his death aged 66




Tributes have been paid to former Lymington town councillor and educator Richard Gray following his death aged 66.

Cllr Gray’s widow Miranda described her late husband, who died in October, as a “deeply caring and helpful man” who had a “gentle and pervasive” sense of humour.

Born in Salisbury, Richard studied maths at Southampton University before doing an extra year there to qualify as a teacher. He went on to begin his educational career at the former Price’s College in Fareham.

Late Lymington town councillor Richard Gray
Late Lymington town councillor Richard Gray

He and Miranda were married in 1983, the same year he started working at Southampton Institute of Higher Education on pioneering educational projects.

He went on to work for News International’s Times Network Systems on online educational projects.

This role evolved into him working for the company News Multimedia on a project using The Times Newspaper archive to create source materials for educational CDs. As a lover of history, Richard greatly enjoyed being able to access these historical archives.

He went on to work at Tower Hill University in London to help coordinate its inaugural MSc qualification in multimedia.

Miranda and Richard co-created Footmark Media Ltd and started working on projects for clients including the exhibition, outreach and educational departments of The British Library. Other projects took Richard to the US, Africa, the European Parliament and the UN in Geneva.

The couple moved to Lymington to be closer to his mother-in-law, with Richard continuing to work for Footmark Media Ltd as an editor, agent, publisher, organiser and administrator in a varied role that included a lot of overseas travel.

In 2023 Richard became a Liberal Democrat councillor for Lymington ward.

Miranda said: “Like everything Richard did, he did it with his full attention, with empathy and caring, with integrity and a genuine desire to help, and of course with humour.

“He really enjoyed finding out more about the town and its people, and he deeply cared about its future and what he could do to help.

“Richard’s passing was sudden and a shock to the many people who knew him.”

Paying tribute to Cllr Gray, who was serving last year as chair of the town council’s policy and resources committee, Lymington Mayor Jack Davies said: “Richard was a well-respected local councillor and a good friend. I’m going to miss him dearly.

“As soon has he was elected, Richard got stuck in helping residents with their problems. I was in awe of his commitment and the speed at which he understood his new role in the community.

“Whilst some councillors can get bogged down in the petty side of local politics, Richard always stood above the fray, looking to get the best deal for residents. He will be sorely missed by residents and his fellow councillors.”



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