I first met Roland at Pearse McNamara’s wake when Betty, Pearse’s widow, took me across the floor to meet a man of whom she said "This is your next tournament director for the Congress and he won’t charge you any more than Pearse". I’m not sure which of us was more taken aback.

We shook hands and exchanged telephone numbers and we went on our way.

That was the start of a twelve year association which turned into a friendship. He was meticulous as a TD – all the detritus left after a bridge session was cleared by him into a black bag and the tables set up for the next session before he left the playing rooms to have his meal and to change into his evening suit. His rulings were also strictly accurate and if he was in any doubt he would ring round his colleagues to check with them. His only fault (if that is the right word) was that his southern accent was sometimes indecipherable by our mostly northern participants.

However help was usually at hand to translate!

He would regale us non-stop at dinner with stories of outrageous bridge hands or some of his experiences while he was working in other parts of the world.

He loved coming to Cumbria. Apart from his enjoyment of the Congress he would visit various friends on the way and he would spend the days after the Congress with friends in Windermere.

This March was Roland’s swan song as Congress TD. His health had been deteriorating for some time and although he had a positive attitude about his recovery, driving here from his home town of Guildford was becoming more difficult. I knew that one of Roland’s pleasures was wine so his retirement present was a case of well-chosen wine. The last time I spoke to him in May he was making good inroads into it and taking great pleasure from it. I do hope he managed to finish it.

A full obituary is on the EBU website.

Vale et Salve Roland

Janet Sheppard