Richard passed away in Surrey, British Columbia on January 27, 2022, one week before his 88th birthday, with his wife Eileen at his side.
Richard Allan was born on February 3, 1934 in Streatham, England, the only child of Ernest and Winifred (nee Wheeler). Allan, as he was known to friends and family in England, was an adventurous spirit who found humour and fun in all things, even in his childhood wartime experiences of sleeping in a bomb shelter and being evacuated to Cornwall. After finishing at Battersea Grammar School at age sixteen, he wanted a job that would take him abroad and went to work at the Royal Bank of Canada in London, their youngest hire ever.
At 20, he was sent to Port of Spain, Trinidad, and began a lifetime of adventure in Latin America and the Caribbean, abiding fully by the maxim “work hard play hard”. Parties, jazz concerts, and card and dice games (several of his own invention), were favourite pastimes. In the turmoil of Colombia in 1950s, he was swept up in arrests of demonstrators and would later enjoy recounting how he would be stopped by people in the street who said they had been with him in the paddy wagon – a tall young Englishman was conspicuous!
In Bogota in 1960, he was introduced over a bridge table to the newly arrived secretary at the Canadian Embassy, who would become not just his bridge partner but his life partner too. Dick (as he was known after leaving England) and Eileen were married on July 22, 1961. With children Tim and Patricia, they would go on to live in Montreal, Trinidad and Argentina. Banking was a headache in hyperinflationary Argentina, and in 1981 the Malvinas/Falklands war broke out. He took it all in stride, carrying on with his banking duties from the family’s refuge in Uruguay. He was rewarded with an appointment as Regional Manager in Barbados, and then he and Eileen returned to Bogota for another 10 years, completing his banking career.
In retirement, Richard and Eileen loved to welcome extended family and many new friends (even ones that didn’t play bridge!) to their home in Amble Greene, Surrey BC. When grandchildren arrived, he loved nothing better than to hunt for toys in his weekly garage sale tours. He put his carpentry skills and ability to fix anything to use for the local Cancer Society and was active in local clubs and committees.
He leaves a legacy of generosity of spirit and happiness that he shared with family and his many friends around the world. He kept his legendary sense of humour to the end.
He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Eileen, his children Tim (Marcela) and Patricia (George), and his grandchildren, Veronica and Richard Fuller Mancilla, and Daniel and Kelin Dix Fuller. The family wishes to thank the staff at Suncrest Retirement Village for the attentive care they gave Richard in his last year of life.
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Richard Allan Fuller January 27th 2022..
Death notice for the town of: Aldergrove, Province: Colombie britanique