RichardHOLLANDDOB: 22nd April 1936 DOD: 3rd February 2022 It is with great sadness that the family of Mr Richard Holland announce his passing on February 3rd 2022 at the age of 85. He passed away in the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford after a short illness. Richard is lovingly remembered by his partner, Michele, and his children Michael, Sarah, Jane, David and Charlotte, his grandchildren Kate, Becki, Dylan, Morris and Indigo, and his great-grandson Ciaran. Born in River, Richard was a Fleet Street journalist who began his career at the age of 15 as tea boy on the East Kent Mercury in Deal, and was swiftly promoted to cub reporter before working on the Folkestone Herald. After his National Service in the RAF, he returned from Germany to a job on the Windsor and Eton Express, followed by a move to the Ilford Pictorial. He met Sheila Coates, a BBC secretary, at an Ilford meeting of the Young Conservatives, and married her. After a spell back in Folkestone, raising their first two children, he became a stringer for the nationals, took a job with the Press Association, eventually joining The Times in 1967 where he rose to Chief Sub-Editor. During his days as a reporter, he was nearly blown up twice: once in Belfast, and once when an IRA car bomb exploded outside the Old Bailey in 1973, while he was standing mere metres away, having glanced casually into the car a few minutes previously. For some years, he was also the "gentleman from The Times" sent to collect the Honours List from No. 10 Downing Street. He worked on major stories of the day, including the Princess Anne assassination attempt and conspiracy theories around Harold Wilson being a Russian spy! He was also on holiday in Athens in 1973 when affiliates of the Black September Group opened fire at the airport. He sometimes joked that big news stories just seemed to follow him around. He retired in 1977, moving to the Isle of Man with his wife Sheila, now a bestselling romantic novelist under the pen-name Charlotte Lamb. There, he dabbled on the stock market and penned two notable biographies of Roman emperors, Nero and Augustus. For many years he was on the Board of Governors for King William's College and the Buchan School, the two public schools on the island, where his three youngest children and two grandchildren were educated. Widowed in his sixties after 42 years of marriage, Richard went travelling around Europe for a spell, eventually remarrying and living in France for a brief period before divorcing. Settling in Folkestone in his seventies, he met his final partner, Michele O'Reilly, and in his last years enjoyed dancing, socialising and walking on the Leas. The funeral service will be held at St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church, 103 Maison Dieu Road, Dover at 11am, Tuesday 8th March. All are welcome to attend. Please make any charitable donations to Emmaus, Dover.
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