Raymond Browning (17 Jun 1920 - 17 Jul 2018)

In loving memory of Raymond Browning who sadly passed away on 17th July 2018. Ray was one of twins ( along with brother Maurice ) born in East Dulwich on 17th June 1920 in the Nutshell Café. They had 3 other brothers Dennis, Eddie and Jack. Ray and Maurice wanted to be Jockeys but their mother was against this as she believed Jockeys had to be Castrated, they went on to work as pageboys in the Embassy club in London from 1934 until 1936. Ray moved to Sussex initially to work for lady Reading, but was drawn to the land and by the late 30's was working on the farm with his brothers. During the war while the other brothers went to war, Dennis and Ray stayed behind to farm ( Ray wanted to join the RAF ) Ray was in the Home Guard and was also commended by the civil defence commissioner for his efforts finding and marking the locations of unexploded bombs. After the war he continued farming, spending some time as a shepherd at Plumpton agricultural college. Ray married Irene in 1948 in Burwash and they went on to have 5 children Brenda, Steve, Chris, Andy and Kevin. In the 1970's a back injury forced a change of career and he spent the rest of his working life as a house keeper, gardener and sometime Chauffeur for Kenneth Shipman and later on Angela Danziger Miles. On retirement he and his wife Rene moved to the village of Aldbourne where they joined in with local groups and managed a large allotment. Ray spent the last couple of years of his life with Rene in the Aldbourne nursing home where they recently celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary. Ray had a lifelong passion for Aircraft and would never miss a chance to go up in one.