Obituary - Raoul Lloyd

Raoul Lloyd was born in Paris in 1928, and married Jane in Canterbury, Kent in 1952. He joined the regular army in 1945 and undertook active service in the Middle East, East Africa, Korea and Malaya. He resigned his regular army commission in 1961 when he joined Ross Group, and by 1968 had become chairman of the Caravan Division which in 1972 received the Queen's Award for Exports. He was proud to have had the honour of meeting the Queen and other members of the Royal Family at an evening reception at Buckingham Palace in 1976.

He was internationally respected within the caravan manufacturing industry, being Chairman of the National Caravan Council 1980- 81, Vice President of the European Caravan Federation, a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Coachmakers and Coach Harness Makers of London, and a Freeman of the City of London. He retired from Cosalt Plc in 1992.

He joined the Rotary Club of Grimsby in 1969 and was President in 1979-80. He was particularly involved in the twinning of the club with the Pierrefitte club in Paris He was awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship in 1994 and a PHF Sapphire Pin in 2014.

In the moving tribute which she gave at his Memorial service, Raoul's daughter Sarah (herself a Rotarian in Adelaide Australia) expressed pride in the fact that he had been an active Rotarian of the Grimsby club for 45 years. She added that both her grandparents were Rotarians, her parents had met through Rotary and it was mostly her father's example which had encouraged her to join Rotary. He considered his fellow Rotarians to be good friends.

Raoul was undoubtedly greatly respected, displaying an old-fashioned courtesy and an attitude that nothing was too much trouble, someone to whom the phrase "a real gentleman" was naturally and justly applied.