Raymond Read: Cheeky humour of a city dentist (From The Oxford Times)
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Raymond Read: Cheeky humour of a city dentist
2:00pm Thursday 2nd February 2012 in Local Obituaries
Dr Read and wife Maisie on their 60th wedding anniversary in 2011
THE man responsible for looking after the teeth of Headington residents for more than 30 years has passed away, aged 89.
Dr Raymond Read, who worked as a dentist in the area from 1951 until 1989, died peacefully at his home on Tuesday, January 24.
He ran a practice in Windmill Road together with his wife of 60 years, Maisie, before working at the London Road Practice until his retirement.
Dr Read was described by his daughter Jennie Stevens as “a man with a very cheeky sense of humour”.
“He was completely with it until the end,” she added. “He was very much loved by the whole family, children and grandchildren.”
Dr Read and Maisie, whose maiden name was Oak, were childhood sweethearts who met through their love of golf. They officially started to date in 1939, but said last year when they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversay, the Second World War had “got in the way”.
He joined the RAF and was one of the famous Pensecola Boys, due to the fact he trained in Pensecola in the USA.
He spent the war flying Sunderland planes, known as the flying boats, in the Caribbean and Japan.
Following the war, the couple were married in St Peter’s Church in Wolvercote on April 21, 1951, and settled in Old Headington, living in the same Dunston Road house for more than 55 years.
They had two children, Matthew and Jennie, and five grandchildren, Charlotte, Jamie, Abbie, Alice and Rafferty.
Mrs Stevens said: “He was a very keen gardener, so he would spend a lot of time in the garden.
“And he loved DIY. He was always doing something around the house.”
She added: “I think people in Headington will miss him. He used to go shopping on his motorised scooter and he knew lots of people.
“The staff in Waitrose will probably wonder what happened to that nice old man who used to pop in.”
Dr Read’s funeral will take place at Oxford Crematorium next Thursday at noon.
