THE FUNERAL of a man who was instrumental in the designing of Redditch’s new town will be held on Monday (February 8).
Graham Reddie MBE moved to Worcestershire in 1966 to become the deputy chief architect and planner for the Redditch Development Corporation, set up to build the new town. He later became the RDC’s chief architect and planner.
When he retired, he became secretary of MASA (Midlands Amenity Societies Association), a group aimed at, among other tasks, encouraging people to look carefully at older buildings and think about how they could be used and preserved, rather than demolishing them and replacing them.
In the New Year’s Honours of 1998/99, Graham received an MBE in his role as MASA secretary for ‘services to the Built Environment in the Midlands’.
Graham was born in Chiswick in 1925 and grew up there before moving to the Peak District where he went to the Abbotshome School in Uttoxeter which was founded by his great uncle Cecil Reddie.
He left school at 17 and lied about his age to get into the Royal Navy to serve his country in the Second World War and was posted on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean.
After the war, he trained and qualified at the School of Architecture, part of University College London.
There he met the love of his life Ethel Mary who was training to be a doctor. When he proposed to her, he jokingly did so on the premise that she used Mary – his preferred name for her – from then on. The couple tied the knot and had son John and later two grandchildren – Charlie and Joanna.
Graham was one of the founder members of the Bromsgrove Society when it launched in 1982 and was the second chairman in 1983 and president from 2001 to 2010.
He also did carpentry in his spare time and was well-known for making items, such as tables, chairs and benches for his friends and family.
He passed away peacefully on January 20 at Burcot Grange in Bromsgrove.
Mary died at the end of November and, despite his struggles, Graham reached his 90th birthday last month and made it through the festive season.
John said: “We have had a lot of people contact us with their condolences and they have all spoken about what a character he was and how much he accomplished.”
His funeral will be held at Redditch Crematorium at 2.45pm on February 8.
