Mr Douglas Reading.
ROTARIAN, Methodist preacher and former school owner Douglas Reading has died at the age of 89.
Born in St Ives, Huntingdonshire, he showed an interest in going to school at the age of just three and his love of education and strong Christian faith stayed with him throughout his life.
He joined the Civil Service in 1939 and the RAF two years later, serving on the then Gold Coast, West Africa, and at the end of the war in Norway.
He met his wife to be, Phyllis Ward, when she was a Sunday school teacher at St Ives Free Church and they married three years later.
They moving to Ealing, where they brought up their four children.
After being demobbed, Mr Reading went back to the Inland Revenue, retiring early to buy Manor House School, Hanwell, in 1978.
Having moved to the Island from Ealing the couple bought Westmount School, Newport, which they ran from 1996 to 2003.
After coming to the Island, Mr Reading remained a Methodist preacher and a member of Rotary. He joined Newport Rotary Club, was its president for a year and maintained his interest in the Rotary Youth Speaks competition.
The funeral service takes place at Ryde Methodist Church at 11am on Thursday — his wife’s 85th birthday.
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