Univ Record 2017

1972
ANTHONY JOSEPH FENNELLY (Gunnersbury Catholic GS) died on 7 March 2017. His
widow Arminel has kindly written this tribute:
Anthony Fennelly died suddenly, aged 62, of heart failure at home on 7 March 2017,
after a perfectly normal day at work, and an equally unremarkable evening meal.
Anthony won an exhibition to read Physics at Univ, where many of his friends knew
him as Albi. His parents emigrated from Galway to London when Anthony was 2 and
the family lived under straitened circumstances, so for Anthony Univ provided a great
escape route and he relished the opportunities offered by Oxford and Univ, albeit in
his characteristic quiet, self-effacing way. There were some steep non-academic learning
curves, for example what to do with the strange plethora of cutlery when dining in Hall.
He joined the photographic society and one of his friends wrote: “He was also a skilled
photographer - I have kept very few photos from my time at Univ, but still have his shots
of our finals celebrations.”
After Univ, Anthony spent about 6 months with the Coal Board in Doncaster, then
off to Sussex University to do a Masters in Operational Research, after which, on 10
January 1977 he joined British Airways. Sadly, he didn’t make it to his 40 years there. He
was really enjoying his most recent BA job which was data analysis with the engineering
department, providing a report every Monday on the
engineering issues with the planes. Anxious travellers
should feel reassured that approximately 90% of these
technical faults are to do with the inside of the plane,
not really its flight-worthiness, and the most likely
problems are with in-flight entertainment systems
- and the tea-making equipment. Anthony enjoyed
this job because he could really see its usefulness and
it gave him a great sense of purpose.
Anthony met his wife Arminel Sebesta (LMH
1972) in 1989 through an ad he put in the magazine
Time Out: “Man on shelf (35) seeks nice woman to
dust him off and see if he’s the kind of bric-a-brac
she’d like to have around”. That ad summarises its
author, intelligent, modest and humorous! They
married in 1990, in the University church, with the reception in the Fellows’ Garden at
Univ, and then subsequently had 4 sons.
Anthony felt himself to be a very lucky man, and one of the crucial pieces of his
luck was going to Univ. It was a great bonus to me to have lived with a man who was so
thankful for his lot and I do know how lucky I am to have met and married Anthony. He
was a thoroughly decent man – reliable, kind and witty, and sadly missed.
JOHN GREGOR HUGH PAYNTER (Merchant Taylors’ School, Northwood) died on
29 July 2016 aged 62. We are very grateful to Michael Soole (1972) for supplying the
following tribute:
John Paynter died on 29th July 2016 after a courageous battle with prostate cancer.
On coming up from Merchant Taylors John quickly impressed his striking personality
on College life. His rooms in the Front Quad became a natural point of call, at all times
of the day, for his growing band of friends. They dropped in to enjoy his wide range of
intellectual and cultural interests; his taste for debate; and above all his outstanding and
infectious sense of humour. Traditional and conformist as were his underlying values, he
had a distinct quality of irreverence. This and his general joie de vivre could occasionally
get him into hot water. Thus at a drinks party in the Lodgings he exuberantly addressed
Lady Redcliffe-Maud as ‘dear lady’. This provoked a splendid and fitting rebuke which
he enjoyed repeating over the years. When persuaded to speak at the Union, on a lighthearted
motion, he brought the house down with his wit and sense of the ridiculous.
John had the happiest memories of his time at Oxford in general and Univ in particular.
He has remembered the College with great generosity.
As so often is the case, these lighter characteristics were but the overlay of a deeply
serious and determined personality. Those qualities came to the fore in his hugely
successful career. After a short period at the Bar he turned to the City where his ambitions
had always been. Soon after joining Cazenove & Co he was sent off to Australia to sort
out some problems in the Sydney office; and ‘to rub off the rough edges’. It took him a
while to adapt, but he gradually found the Australian way particularly congenial. Then
in his last few days he met Kym. He was bowled over. On his return to England he
persuaded her to join him. They married in Univ Chapel in 1983. Thereafter his happy
family life with Kym and their three children was the backbone of his successful career.
In 1986 Cazenove made him a Partner at the tender age of 32. In due course he
became Deputy Chairman. A colleague gave this summary in his memorial address:
‘The strength of John’s relationships was built on an exceptional and open mind, a deep
understanding of markets and calm judgment. He was articulate and erudite and had great
wit which he was skilful in deploying. Allied to these mental attributes were emotional
strengths – a wonderful listener, he treated people with respect and decorum, whatever
their station in life. He had an instinct for when to display gravitas and when to use a
lightness of touch. It is little wonder that he was so popular around the City… Finally,
he brought conviviality and a sense of fun to proceedings. As somebody remarked to me,
he was the person you hoped you would be sat next to at a board dinner’.
These qualities drew John, after Cazenove’s merger with JP Morgan, to a cluster of
board directorships with great companies. In 2012 he became Chairman of Standard
Life Investments. At this stage his illness struck. He confronted it at work and play with
huge courage and resilience. To the end John displayed all the qualities which had so
inspired the affection and respect of his friends at Univ.
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